The Stanley Leisure Electronic Sports Betting Business was launched in Malta on Saturday evening at the Hilton Hotel. Stanley Leisure is the first company to be granted a licence to operate in the online betting market in Malta. Finance Minister John Dalli said the whole process started around a year ago and over the past twelve months the government has been able to process a considerable number of applications.

There are currently 12 companies in receipt of a licence. Dalli added that the number of new job opportunities to be created by these companies over the next two years is expected to be considerable for Malta.

Online betting has the potential to become one of the biggest markets in the near future. From a current market turnover of over 10 billion dollars the turnover is expected to rise to a total market of around 700 billion dollars by the year 2002 with Europe enjoying the greatest market share. Stanley Leisure is one of UK's leading companies in the online-betting market.