In November, Arkansas voters approved new gambling regulations which would legalise retail sports betting.

After a long journey, the Natural State has now become the eighth state to launch the vertical (excluding New Mexico, in which some individual tribal casinos offer it).

Interestingly, the first bet placed was a $5 wager on an NFL game to be played as far away as 8 September.

Richard Carter, SBTech CEO, said: "We’re delighted Oaklawn selected SBTech to power their sportsbook in partnership with Churchill Downs and launch the state’s first sports wager.

"We look forward to extending that to other products and channels in the near future."

In June, DraftKings was linked with a takeover of SBTech, with neither company confirming or denying the reports when contacted by Gambling Insider.