Gibson Dunn bets on gambling work with launch of new global practice
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has launched an international betting and gaming practice group amid a surge in activity in the sector spurred by the landmark US Supreme Court opening up the market earlier this year.
The group, which is co-led by corporate partners Jonathan Earle in London, Kevin Masuda in Los Angeles and Graham Winter in Hong Kong, will focus on complex litigation, regulation and compliance and corporate and real estate transactions.
The group launches just months after the firm successfully argued a US Supreme Court case that legalised sports betting in the country. Washington DC partners Theodore Olson and Matthew McGill represented the State of New Jersey in Murphy v National Collegiate Athletic Association, in which the court struck down a 26-year-old federal law that prohibited states from authorising state-sanctioned sports betting.
Since the ruling, the firm has seen activity in the sports betting sector take off, according to Kenneth Doran, the firm's chairman and managing partner.
Earle, who joined Gibson Dunn in 2014 after 16 years at Ashurst, told Legal Week: “For some time the US has always been the Holy Grail for UK bookmakers, because you have a potentially massive market that has historically been out of reach that’s now starting to open up.
"Having that US-UK relationships and expertise has been really helpful and we’ve done a lot of work already across the offices. We’ve got the UK knowledge and contacts and the US expertise and contacts – put those together and we can offer something quite unique.”
“As with any heavily regulated industry, whether that be banks, insurance or gaming, you need to know the regulatory framework to do the work. On top of that, betting and gaming is a sector that is quite niche in itself. The companies tend to be very competitive and given the historic regulatory framework, the larger corporates in it tended to be very UK-focused."
Fellow practice head Masuda joined Gibson Dunn last year after more than two decades at Munger Tolles & Olson, while Winter joined the firm in 2011 from Reed Smith.
Doran added: “We can offer our clients in the gaming industry a unique combination of experience that we believe no other firm can offer: a superior regulatory and compliance capability along with a market-leading transactional practice," said Doran.
In April, Gibson Dunn represented Canadian betting company Stars Group on a $4.7bn acquisition of UK-based Sky Betting & Gaming, while the firm has been advising William Hill on a 25-year partnership with US gaming company Eldorado Resorts and acting for MGM on a major joint venture with GVC Holdings.
Earle added that the group will not hire for the new group immediately, explaining: "The guys who did the William Hill and MGM deals have great contacts and expertise already so we already have that set. But if and when the right person comes along to appeals to us, I am sure we would look at it."
Asia is also a big market for betting and gaming. The region boasts the world's largest gambling hub by revenue - Macau, while Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam are among other Asian markets where gambling is legal. Vietnam is set to open a $4bn casino by Chinese property developer Suncity Group Holdings next year.
Gambling companies are also keeping an eye on Japan, where casinos are expected to be set up in the mid-2020s after they were legalised in December 2016.
