Supreme Court ruling on sports betting could mean big things for this Delaware startup

When Shawn Lindsey, a software developer for Comcast, started CappedSports.com five years ago, the idea that sports betting would be no longer prohibited outside of Nevada was far from reality.

Then, last December, New Jersey challenged a 1992 federal law that made sports betting illegal in 49 states, saying it was unconstitutional to allow one state to have a monopoly on it.

This week, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of New Jersey, making sports betting one of those things, like medical marijuana, that states can decide on themselves.

Good news for sports gamblers in Delaware, who will likely be able to legally bet on sports (beyond the Delaware Lottery’s Football Parlay Cards) later this year. Even better news for Capped Sports, which Lindsey describes as “The Facebook of Sports Betting.”

“I’m imagining everything a sports bettor would want to do,” he says. “For instance, we want to see what the odds are for a game, what’s the payout if you bet on the Phillies tonight? They want to be able to bet their friends, and my app will keep track of who owes who what.”

Supreme Court Strikes Down Federal Sports Betting Ban ⚡ Breaking Capped News & Info via SportsHandle Check it out now: https://t.co/aY0u3eAeUY

— Vig it (@Vig_it) May 14, 2018

Some of the features are pretty sophisticated. “One thing I’m doing that I think is really cool is that you can manage a sports betting hedge fund on Capped Sports,” Lindsey said. “Instead of managing a hedge fund for stocks, you can mange one for sports betting. They don’t give me the money — that would be illegal — but [users] can put their bets in and [the site] will track it, so you can see your performance as a hedge fund manager in sports betting.” These hedge funds, he says, can be public, or users can set them to private and charge a fee for people who want to look and learn from them.

As the laws are changing, Lindsey sees his site as increasingly valuable.

“More people start betting on sports now, it’s like more people investing in the stock market,” he said.

Capped Sports also measures sports betting trends using thousands of bots that make the same bet just before a certain team plays. “I programmed them all,” he said. “They’re all automated, and they go out there and search for trends.”

The Supreme Court ruling will undoubtedly have an impact. “They just created a $50-billion industry that wasn’t there before,” Lindsey said.

With Capped Sports’ potential running hot right now, Lindsey is eager to find people who are interested in what he’s doing for possible partnerships.

“Now is the time to jump on this train,” he says.

While Capped Sports has users from all over, it doesn’t hurt that Delaware is likely to be one of the first states after New Jersey to have legalized single-game sports betting.

Delaware is ready for sports betting after @USSupremeCourt strikes down federal ban https://t.co/gFouinAJN6

— DelawareBizTimes (@DeBusinessTimes) May 15, 2018