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Sports Betting App Boosts theScore to 4-Year High

Sports Betting App Boosts theScore to 4-Year High

(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s theScore Inc. rallied to the highest since July 2015 after getting the green light to launch a mobile application for sports betting in New Jersey.

The Toronto-based company said that it would first offer the mobile app to a select group of sports bettors in the U.S. state, before a statewide launch ahead of football season. Shares of the small-cap company climbed as much as 18% Friday, taking this month’s rally to 35%.

“This is a huge milestone,” theScore’s founder and Chief Executive Officer John Levy said in a statement. It had first announced plans to start a mobile betting app in New Jersey last year, after a licensing deal with two racetrack operators.

Sports Betting App Boosts theScore to 4-Year High

New Jersey has “the most advanced and developed online sports betting market in the U.S.” said Cormark Securities Inc. analyst David McFadgen, who initiated coverage of theScore on Friday -- before the company announcement -- with a buy rating.

In addition to the latest approval, the company inked a deal last month with Penn National Gaming Inc. to launch a mobile app for online betting in 11 U.S. states including Ohio, Texas, and Massachusetts. In return, Penn National will take a $7.5 million equity stake in theScore.

--With assistance from Michael Bellusci.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simran Jagdev in Toronto at sjagdev1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jacqueline Thorpe at jthorpe23@bloomberg.net, Divya Balji, Jennifer Bissell-Linsk

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