The decision was made by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board who have had a busy few weeks which have seen them beginning to accept applications of  ‘entities interested in offering fantasy sports contests’ as well as giving approval for the Penn National Gaming's $2.8bn acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment, a U.S casino operator based in their jurisdiction.  

Applicants for the new interactive gaming licences can do so from the gaming control board’s website where they will receive instructions for how to be fingerprinted. Following those results and barring all ‘other deficiencies in the application are cured’ companies will move on to the next stage, where they will need to ‘undergo a background investigation’ before they can receive their licence.

Pennsylvania was the fourth U.S State to legalise online gaming within its borders following the passing of legislation in October 2017 by Governor Tom Wolf which authorised online gambling at the states truck stops and casinos.

At the time the  move was been widely perceived as a way to plug a large hole in government finances, with tax collected from the existing casino industry worth $1.4bn in the most recent fiscal year, the highest sum of any state.