da sportbooks will be allowed to offer wagers on the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, following a vote held by the Nevada Gaming Control Board on Thursday.

The proposal to re-legalise Summer and Winter Olympic betting in the state, made by a group of sportsbooks on the Las Vegas Strip last month, was passed unanimously.

Operator William Hill announced shortly after that it would be posting odds on the 2016 Games.

William Hill CEO John Asher said: "With more than two out of every three Americans having watched the London Olympics in 2012, the games in Rio have the potential to make a sizeable impact in August of 2016, like we saw last June with the [FIFA] World Cup.”

Nevada is the only US state where betting on single-game sports is legal, but betting on both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games was banned in 2001 when Senator John McCain attempted to outlaw betting on amateur sports in the state.

A compromise was reached to allow wagering on college sports providing that betting on all other amateur sports, which included the Olympics, was banned.