Ladbrokes, the U.K.-based booking giant with more than 2,700 betting shops across England and parts of Europe has made its first U.S. purchase as the company looks toward a future its executives believe will include the eventual legalization of sports wagering.

Its agreement to pay $3 million for about 65 percent of Las Vegas-based software developer Stadium Technology seems to guarantee that the future of sports wagering in Nevada and wherever it may be approved, will have a decidedly British look.

William Hill is another of the British bookmaking giants. The company has about 2,300 "betting shops," as they appear to be known in that part of the world. Hill beat Ladbrokes to Nevada by a number of months, agreeing last year to buy the dozens of Nevada sports books serviced or owned by American Wagering.

Cantor Gaming, an offspring of the UK’s Cantor Fitzgerald, a respected financial services firm, is the "old timer" among these relatively new arrivals to Nevada. Cantor has been developing its Nevada presence for more than a decade, hiring the lobbyists who provided the big push that resulted in the legalization of the mobile or wireless gaming first introduced with the Cantor label at the Venetian.

Stadium Technology provides the "back end" or software for each of the current Cantor locations, which have generated much publicity because of Cantor’s wide use of concepts and hardware that have helped speed the spread of customer interest.

Why was Ladbrokes so quick to pounce on Stadium as its first U.S. purchase? Stadium officials could not be reached for comment, referring news media inquiries to a Ladbrokes press release.

But two different sources outside Stadium with knowledge of the deal speculated that because Ladbrokes leases software from a European provider for its operations in Europe and England it may have decided the decision to establish a U.S, presence was a good time to "own its software," as one of the sources explained. The stadium software is also in use at the three Delaware tracks where NFL parlay tickets have become a significant business.

Besides, William Hill already had its arms around the software division (Computerized Bookmaking Systems) of American Wagering in use at AW’s Leroy’s Sports Books locations.

But why the relatively sudden interest in the U.S.?

"It’s a matter of growing their business," a gaming regulator explained. "These companies are developing business plans that look five years or more down the road. There are limited opportunities for expansion in Europe. There are definite limits to what they can do in Asia without getting in trouble because of licensing issues."

The latter comment was offered with a smile that seemed to say do-I-have-to-explain-myself?

All of which has made the U.S. a kind of New Frontier or Final Frontier, however one cares to think of the situation. The big thinkers in charge of producing profits at their respective companies decided it did not require the intellect of a rocket scientist to spot the opportunities taking root "across the pond."

And what is the single U.S. location where wide-open sports wagering already exists? That’s a rhetorical question.

My friend the gaming regulator pointed out that although the prospects for legalized Internet poker have been soaking up all the time and attention U.S. gaming officials have for them, poker alone is not the biggest draw for these British companies.

"They will certainly service the poker business, but they expect sports wagering to eventually expand across the Americas in way that makes a Nevada location ideal for serving these anticipated future sources of billions of dollars in annual business."