I read an article stating some of the following(was it here?), the rest is conjecture on my part:
Beauçoup American inve$ting dollars have flowed their way(as well as to off-shores in general)... & with DA's all over the land threatening to haul in folks just for pitching ads-- you draw the conclusion-- for instance, our moronic DA in NY threatened 7 of the largest banks in the USA into not allowing their credit cards to be used for any wagering, even at legal sites like NY OTB & Youbet.
Pragmatic Betfair is trying to be conservative & innocuous-- avoiding enemies as much as possible.
Its philosophy is based on trying to sneak in, develop a substantial base before the natives(racetracks & moralists) wake up(even when it believes it has legal standing, as in Canada & Australia)-- then hope a light bulb clicks on in the head of some of those opposing when they see the amountS-- hopefully leading to some partnerships(like in one Australian province recently). That is much less likely to occur if it barges its way in.
All we need in the US is for one racing jurisdiction to want to start something, maybe use Betfair to handle it for them, then others will fall behind it like dominoes.
For instance-- in Canada it's highly debatable, to be kind, whether its presence there is legal; however, it gets away with it because it's not illegal for any Canadian to place place a bet with it-- however, it remains extra cautious by not openly marketing there AND by refusing credit cards from certain Canadian banks that also issue cards in the US, when it cannot determine for sure that a particular cc # was NOT issued in the US.
Another instance, Australia: one province authorized it explicitly, while others instead are making noises re passing legislation to ban it(technically it only needs expressed permission in one--no Australian in another province could be prohibited from availing themselves of what's legal in another one, such a happening would be unprecedented). So it's laying low in the other outspoken provinces.
Give it a couple more years-- by then its handle will too large to not attract feelers & offers. In the meantime i recommend, if legally able, to purchase its shares in the Bourse. Buy also some youbet, google, amazon, sirius, costco, magna(have some patience with this last one).
I would recommend to anyone to set up a verifiable location in Canada-- it's well worth the investment:
the liquidity, safety of investment, & wagering choices at Betfair are incomparable...as well too for the other type European books.