US States With Legal Sports Betting

From 2018 to now, over 30 US states with legal sports betting have come to fruition. Through the advancement of sports betting bills and tribal negotiations, some states with sports betting started by voter referendum. In short, the methods for legal sports betting by state have not been similar. Our goal is to provide you with knowledge on the legal US sports betting states. We also cover current news for sports betting, staying alert to any changes. Some states have little to report but others see their state sports betting laws change.

Legal Sports Betting In Nevada – The Biggest Sports Betting State

Legal sports betting in Nevada is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Considering it is the original sports betting state, this is no surprise. Exempt from PASPA due to legalizing sports wagering in the 1940s, they held a monopoly for years. Only, Nevada sports betting laws made it so sports bars couldn’t be a sportsbook. Most of Nevada’s sportsbooks are in Las Vegas, Reno, and Henderson. While individual betting shops used to be very popular, casinos and hotels took over. That said, you’re still able to find small sportsbooks in cities across Nevada.

Legal Sports Betting in Arizona

Sports betting launched in Arizona officially on September 9, 2021, after the passing of HB 2772 regulated the market. Now Arizona betting fans can wager on their local teams and any other sports franchise they wish to. The sports betting market in Arizona is divided into 20 licenses evenly between local tribes and commercial outfits.

Local sports teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Arizona Cardinals have created partnerships with major sportsbooks and offer sports betting operations within their respective arenas. Sports betting in Arizona is both land-based and mobile sports betting so there are options for all players.

Legal Sports Betting In Arkansas

Land-based sports betting was legalized in Arkansas in November 2018 via voter referendum (Issue 4). The law authorizes four Arkansas sports betting racino/casino venues, while later laws allowed sports stadiums to offer sports wagering as well. Sports wagering is overseen by the Arkansas Racing Commission, and bettors must be 21 or older in order to participate. The Oaklawn venue was first to market, accepting its first bets on July 1, 2019. Mobile sports betting was also legislatively approved in Arkansas with launches beginning in March 2022.

Legal Sports Betting In Colorado

Voters approved the activity when they voted “yes” to Proposition DD during their November ballot in 2019. Colorado residents and visitors of the state will now have a chance to go to a retail sportsbook in one of three towns. Those gambling towns are Black Hawk, Cripple Creek, and Central City.

Casinos in those towns that receive a license to conduct sports betting in Colorado will also be able to offer statewide mobile sports wagering apps. In-person registration won’t be required to use these apps so as long as you are within state lines you will be able to bet on the Broncos, Rockies, or any other professional or collegiate team for that matter.

Legal Sports Betting In Connecticut

The Connecticut sports betting market went live on October 7 with the launching of the DraftKings and FanDuel sportsbooks at the Foxwood Casino and Mohegan Sun respectively. Online sportsbooks went live with a soft launch on October 12 hosting a limited number of gamblers at set times to test sportsbooks. The official launch came a week later on October 19, in time for the start of the NBA season.

There are three active mobile sportsbooks in Connecticut. FanDuel is live through its partnership with the Mohegan tribe. DraftKings is live through its partnership with the Mashantucket Pequot tribe. And Rush Street Interactive in conjunction with the Connecticut Lottery has launched PlaySugarHouse.

Legal Sports Betting In Delaware

Delaware is one of the states that were exempt fr om PASPA, though initially only partially. This is because, in 1976, Delaware expanded its lottery laws to include NFL parlay cards. They weren’t very popular and the state ceased offering this form of legal sports betting after a single year.

But because they never repealed the law, Delaware became one of the four states grandfathered into the federal law exemptions (though only for those parlay cards). With the overturn of PASPA, legal Delaware sports betting now includes single-game wagering. Delaware has also legalized online sports betting, but that product has not yet been rolled out.

Legal Sports Betting In Florida

First launching in October of 2021, the Hard Rock Bet app has had a long journey in Florida. After being temporary shutdown, the app relaunched in November of 2023 for players that create in account two years back and officially launched on December 5 for all players. The first land based sportsbook launched on December 7, 2023 at Hard Rock Casino Hollywood but this is only the start for legal FL sports betting.

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Legal Sports Betting In Illinois

Sports wagering was legalized in Illinois on June 28, 2019, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed SB 690 into law. The Illinois sports betting laws allow for sports betting lounges to operate at the state’s 10 riverboat casino venues, and it also allows horse racing tracks in the state to host sportsbooks. Lottery retail locations could also offer sports betting under the law.

Additionally, SB 690 allows for online and mobile sports betting statewide. Illinois will tax all sports betting revenue at a rate of 15%. Retail sportsbooks in Illinois will pay 5% of their gross gaming revenue as a licensing fee, with the maximum allowable fee being $10 million. These licenses last for four years. SB 690 also allows Illinois to issue three online-only sports betting licenses, which will cost $20 million each.

Legal Sports Betting In Indiana

The Indiana legislature passed legislation to legalize sports wagering in late April 2019, and it was signed by the governor on May 8, 2019. Legal sports wagering in Indiana is allowed to be offered at any of IN’s 13 state-licensed gaming venues, though the bill allows for the building of more gambling sites, which will also be able to offer sports betting. Laws regulating sports betting in Indiana also allows state-wide online sports wagering, making the state one of the most comprehensive sports wagering destinations on the map.

On September 1, 2019, sports betting launched in three retail locations. Since then more and more gambling establishments have joined and have launched Indiana sportsbooks themselves. However, it wasn’t until October 3, 2019, that online sports betting in Indiana went live. Rush Street Gaming launched an online sportsbook via its partnership with French Lick Casino and DraftKings launched one as well through its partnership with Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago.

Legal Sports Betting In Iowa

Three closely-related sports wagering bills have been passed by the IA legislature and were signed by Governor Kim Reynolds on May 13, 2019. These legal Iowa sports wagering bills allow betting to take place at any of the state’s 19 brick-and-mortar gambling venues (both land-based and riverboat). The Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission oversees the industry, and vendors are taxed at 6.75%, matching NV’s sportsbook tax rate as the lowest in the US.

Both land-based and state-wide online sports betting apps were launched on August 15, 2019. Iowa could theoretically sign up to 38 different sportsbooks within its borders.

Legal Sports Betting In Kansas

Deciding in May, Kansas finally legalized online and retail sports betting. Kansas residents can rest easy knowing they will have online legal sports betting in time for Super Bowl 57. By the law that was passed for the activity, legal sports betting must be up and running by January 1st, 2023.

Senate Bill 84 made sports betting officially legal in Kansas and allows for four retail sportsbooks that will team up with the four tribal casinos in the state. Three online sportsbooks operators are also able to team up with each casino, resulting in 12 total sports betting apps on the table for Kansas residents.

Legal Sports Betting In Louisiana

Louisiana regulated sports betting in November 2020 through citizen vote. Since then, legislators passed its three sports betting bills, SB 142, SB 247, and HB 697 to allow the Louisiana sports betting market to officially launch. Louisiana officially went live on October 6 2021 in order to capitalize on the NFL season as well as the start of the NBA season.

Louisiana has both mobile and retail sports betting (mobile launching at a later date) but these are only accessible in the 55 parishes that voted in favor of sports betting. The remaining parishes are geolocked out of having regulated sportsbooks. This is how the regulations have been set by the legislation.

Legal Sports Betting In Maine

Governor Janet Mills controlled most of the pace for legal sports betting in Maine throughout the 2020s. With the concept introduced in 2020, it took three approved measures before Maine moved forward with regulation. The first bill saw a veto from Governor Mills while the second bill (in 2021) did not gain her support either. Finally on board with Governor Mills’ idea of how Maine sports betting should look, the legislature approved a bill that Governor Mills signed off on. LD 585 brought both mobile and land based sports betting to Maine.

Legal Sports Betting In Maryland

Sports betting was legalized in Maryland after residents voted in favor of the practice on the November ballot. HB 940 would then go on to pass in April 2021 and be signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan in May. On December 10, 2021, Maryland launched its first state-regulated retail sportsbook. Currently, there are no state-regulated online sportsbooks available in Maryland – however, bettors can still utilize licensed, internationally-based online sportsbooks. These sportsbooks have been safely and legally providing sports betting services to Americans for decades, and often will host much more valuable betting lines and odds than state-regulated sportsbooks.

Legal Sports Betting In Massachusetts

After years of showing support for legal sports betting in Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker was able to sign HB 5164. The MA legislation agreed to terms in August of 2022 and has implemented a 20% tax for mobile betting, a 15% tax for retail betting, and a 15% tax for DFS. State regulated sportsbooks in MA officially launched in January of 2023.

There was a lot of support for legal sports betting in MA but there was some divide in where all of the tax revenue would go from the activity. The legislation decided on the tax going to five different funds that would benefit the economy and overall society of Massachusetts.

• 45% – General Fund
• 27.5% – Gaming Local Aid Fund
• 17.5% – Workforce Investment Fund
• 9% Public Health Trust Fund
• 1% – Youth Development And Achievement Fund

Legal Sports Betting In Michigan

Michigan legalized sports betting on December 20, 2019 when it passed HB 4916. There was a previous effort to legalize Michigan sports betting in 2018, but the bill was vetoed by then-Governor Rick Snyder out of concern for the state’s School Aid Fund. The new bill addressed his concern with a healthy, but reasonable, 8.4% tax rate on sports betting revenues that will directly contribute to the School Aid Fund.

Three casinos, all in Detroit, opened their sportsbooks to the public in early March. There are currently 26 casinos throughout Michigan, and all will be authorized to open retail and online sportsbooks.

Legal Sports Betting In Mississippi

Technically speaking, sports betting in Mississippi has been legal since the state included the provision in a 2017 daily fantasy sports bill. It was not until August 2018 that Mississippi sportsbooks launched in Tunica and Biloxi, as the state had to wait for the Supreme Court ruling on PASPA.

Residents and tourists can now wager on sports at more than 20 different sportsbooks spread across the state. Although legislation has been introduced to give Mississippi online sports betting options, none of these bills have managed to get passed.

Legal Sports Betting In Montana

Two different kinds of sports wagering were legalized in Montana in May 2019: sports tabs/pools and single-game online betting. These were each passed in their own bills, and both versions are slated to go live by the start of the 2019-2020 NFL season. Barring any unforeseen setbacks to sports betting in Montana, this deadline is definitely achievable.

Montana’s famous tavern industry will be the beneficiary of the renewed and refreshed sports tabs and sports pools, all of which will be offered at these venues in-person on a pari-mutuel basis. The Montana Lottery will handle the administration of full single-game (i.e. “Vegas-style”) betting, which will be available over the Internet (at on-site locations only) and at lottery retailers and other bar and restaurant venues in the form of electronic sports wagering kiosks.

Legal Sports Betting In Nebraska

The Nebraska sports betting market was signed into law by Governor Pete Rickets on May 27, 2021. Sports betting has not yet gone live, but sportsbooks are not too far off from going live. Nebraska will have sportsbooks at its local tribal casino operations once they officially go live. There is no set date of when the market will launch as of yet.

Mobile sports betting in Nebraska  is available statewide through online sportsbooks. There is nothing stopping local bettors from cashing in on sports betting in Nebraska as legislators work out the final regulations.

Legal Sports Betting In New Hampshire

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu ® signed HB 480 into law on July 12, 2019. The law authorizes up to 10 in-state retail betting licenses and up to 5 online betting licenses for statewide mobile wagering. License fees are not specified in the New Hampshire sports betting law.

New Hampshire will select the operators that offer the largest revenue-sharing proposals to the state. Currently, Hew Hampshire offers its residents mobile and internet sports betting platforms with DraftKings Sportsbook. There is no concrete timeline for when retail sports betting will formally launch in NH.

Legal Sports Betting In New Jersey

After a years-long battle, no state is prouder to offer legal sports betting than New Jersey, who legalized sports betting at local racetracks and all of its Atlantic City casinos June 2018. New Jersey sportsbooks are the most comprehensive betting products available on the East Coast, with land-based, online, and mobile betting options.

Of all the legal sports betting states, New Jersey has the most competitive market in the country. While most of the wagering action is concentrated in Atlantic City, all of the sportsbooks in New Jersey have full-service sports betting. Betting lines are available on all of the most popular sports, and each sports gambling property provides a unique experience.

Legal Sports Betting In New Mexico

New Mexico sportsbooks legalized overnight. This is because the sportsbook at the tribal Santa Ana Star Casino opened its doors in October 2018. As the sixth state with legal sports betting. no legislation passed to make sports betting in New Mexico legal. The Tamaya Nation at the Pueblo of Santa Ana started based on the language within their state-tribal compact. Since then, more land-based NM sportsbooks opened under the same compact allowances. But, the New Mexico sportsbooks are unable to accept online sports bets. Legal online sports betting requires the NM congress to pass a new law, which is currently not in the cards.

Legal Sports Betting In New York

New York legalized sports betting at four upstate commercial casinos in 2013. But, they were unable to launch due to PASPA. So, New York sports betting opened in July 2019 at the Rivers Casino & resorts Schenectady. Adding mobile betting in NY was a large step for the state and country. Launching in January 2022, their 51% tax rate showed how lucrative sports betting is. Seeing immediate success, local fan bases and tourists keep betting action flowing.

Legal Sports Betting In North Carolina

Legal sports betting in North Carolina was officially signed into law on July 26, 2019, by Governor Roy Cooper. SB 154 is the sports betting bill that approved legal betting at the tribal casinos in the state, but offered no provisions for mobile and online betting.

It took more than a year for legislators to finalize the regulations, but legal sports betting in North Carolina officially launched on March 18, 2021. Sports betting in North Carolina is run exclusively through the tribal casino operations and they have given no indication of launching mobile and online betting as of yet.

Legal Sports Betting In North Dakota

North Dakota sports betting is available at the 4 Bears Sportsbook in New Town, the Grand Treasure Casino Sportsbook, and the Sky Dancer Casino sportsbook. These tribal sportsbooks went live despite no regulations passing to allow legal sports betting market in North Dakota. The local tribes launched sports betting accepting it as qualifying under the existing compacts.

Commercial sports betting and online sportsbooks still require laws passing in order for these to go live. Local lawmakers are interested in the sports betting market, but there are currently no sports betting laws in place. Licensed online sportsbooks are still available statewide.

Legal Sports Betting In Ohio

Legal sports betting has been signed by Governor Mark DeWine and approved sports betting in the form of three different licenses. Ohio has taken a new approach to the licensing aspect of sports betting, by creating three different licenses for each type of retail location. There are options for 25 online licenses for casinos/racetracks, 40 licenses for land-based sportsbook operations, and a two-kiosk license for grocery stores, bars, and restaurants.

Sports betting will officially launch on January 1st, 2023. NFL fans in Ohio can hope there are betting lines for the Bengals, Browns, or both heading into the 2022 postseason.

Legal Sports Betting In Oregon

Oregon was originally one of four states that were exempt fr om PASPA. After that law was repealed, the Oregon Lottery took it upon themselves to create regulations for the state’s legal sports betting industry. There was no need for any Oregon sports betting bills to pass through the legislature in order to authorize sports betting because of that pre-existing exception. Oregon did, however, still need to put appropriate infrastructure in place to support sports betting.

Tribal casinos can only offer land-based sports betting options, but they can also offer collegiate betting. The state lottery launched a state-wide mobile betting app called Scoreboard (which has now been replaced by DraftKings) in the fall of 2019 but limits it to only betting on professional sports such as the NFL, NBA, and MLB. In June 2020, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde announced a partnership with ROAR Digital to launch both online and retail sports betting for several tribal casinos.

Legal Sports Betting In Pennsylvania

Sports betting in Pennsylvania was first legalized toward the end of 2017, with the law becoming active in May 2018 upon PASPA’s overturn. Pennsylvania sportsbooks first launched in November 2018, and now have fully active mobile betting as well. There are a total of 12 casino and racetrack locations eligible to offer legal PA sports betting.

PA sportsbooks are of course located in major cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, though there are also several sports wagering venues in central PA. The Rivers Casino Sportsbook is one of the most popular books for sports fans, as the bookmaker is near both Heinz Field and PNC Park. Of course, most betting takes place via mobile apps, which are available across the state. Pennsylvania sportsbooks are taxed at 36% of revenue, the fourth highest rate in the country.

Legal Sports Betting In Rhode Island

Rhode Island sports betting took most of the nation by surprise, with the state becoming the eighth state to start accepting sports bets. Only two casinos can hold sports betting licenses in the state – Twin River Casino (Lincoln) and Twin River Tiverton Casino. The law to legalize sports betting was passed on June 22, 2018, as part of the governor’s budget package.

Now, anyone 18 or older can place bets on football, basketball, hockey, tennis, baseball, and other popular sports at local Rhode Island sportsbooks. Mobile sports betting in Rhode Island was also made possible by bill that passed in early 2019. There is only one mobile sportsbook in Rhode Island and you will have to register in-person at one of the Twin River casino locations to use it.

Legal Sports Betting In South Dakaota

South Dakota currently has four sportsbooks, all of which are located exclusively at Deadwood casinos. Following the passing of Senate Bill 44, sports betting was legalized in November 2020, and launched September 9, 2021.

The bill was introduced on January 7 2021, and was signed by Governor Kristi Noem on March 18, roughly three months later. No South Dakota-based sportsbooks are legally allowed to offer lines on any South Dakota colleges.

Legal Sports Betting In Tennessee

Tennessee unveiled their online and mobile sports betting industry on November 1, 2020, nearly 18 months after becoming legal. Four sportsbook operators launched on the official date, and more launched later in the life cycle, once it became clear that Tennessee was a gold mine. Their online-only sportsbook model became an immediate success, and set the tone for several other states.

There is no limit on how successful the Tennessee’s sports betting industry can be – they were the fastest sportsbook market to reach a billion dollars wagered before New York shattered that record, but they did so with a remarkably low population, demonstrating the effectiveness of their online-only market.

Legal Sports Betting in Virginia

Legal sports betting in Virginia went through a bit of a non-traditional way to get here but it is finally up and running. In 2019, the state passed a sports betting bill. However the stipulations of the bill required that a study be conducted about Virginia sports betting and that it had to pass again in 2020 before it was officially legalized. Fast forward to April of 2020 and the state passed that very bill that not only legalized land-based sports betting but also online sports betting in VA. These land-based venues are still in construction while online sportsbooks launched in January of 2021.

In-person registration is not required for online sportsbooks, however, one thing to note is that the law does not allow betting on in-state college teams so Virginia sports bettors will still have to turn to overseas-based online sportsbooks to bet on the Virginia Cavaliers and Virginia Tech Hokies.

Legal Sports Betting In Washington

Washington legalized sports betting in March 2020 after bill ESHB 2638 was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee. However, sports betting is explicitly limited to sportsbooks located in tribal casinos, which in this case, is the Snoqualmie Casino.

Although gambling on the internet is against the law in Washington, no one has ever been arrested for doing so, since the law is more to prevent illegal sportsbooks fr om occurring. The recent passing of SB 5212 would see sports betting authorized at card rooms and racetracks.

Legal Sports Betting In Washington DC

Washington DC sports wagering launched in May 2020. The Nation’s Capital offers both regulated retail and mobile betting, but statewide mobile is limited to the DC Lottery run GamebetDC app. There are mobile betting through apps like William Hill, but this is only available within a two-block radius of the Capital One Arena wh ere the physical sportsbook operates.

Thankfully, licensed online sportsbooks in Washington DC offer state-wide betting in DC as well, allowing local betting fans to better shop the lines without having to travel outside the city or to a retail sportsbook.

Legal Sports Betting In West Virginia

Lawmakers in West Virginia were vocal proponents of regulated sports betting in the US. The law to legalize West Virginia sports betting was passed in March 2018, with full-scale West Virginia sportsbooks launching in August 2018 after the May SCOTUS ruling. As the fifth state to launch legal sports gambling, WV could be considered an early pioneer of the industry.

There are five casinos in WV that can offer sports betting, though one (The Greenbrier) is a members-only location. Three out of the five are operational at the moment. All of the locations accept single-game wagers on sports like football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and more. There are also online sports betting options in WV powered by local sportsbooks. The Greenbrier’s mobile sportsbook is powered by FanDuel and is available to the public.

Legal Sports Betting In Wisconsin

Sportsbooks in Wisconsin launched on November 30, 2021, at the Oneida Casino in Green Bay. The Oneida Nation launched betting without North Dakota passing any laws. Because, they classified it under the same gambling that existed in their compact. This is the sole legal Wisconsin sports betting shop. Further, online betting won’t launch until law changes happen.

Legal Sports Betting In Wyoming

The Wyoming sports betting market went live on September 1, 2021. Wyoming is an online and mobile-only market which means locals will find no legal retail sportsbooks in operation. Wyoming accepts bettors who are at least 18 years old and is the first US market to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for sports betting.

Wyoming is currently home to several big-name sportsbooks like BetMGM and DraftKings and will see more sportsbooks launch in the near future. Sports betting in Wyoming has already been a major success since its launch and has shown no signs of slowing down. The cryptocurrency aspect of the market has also swayed other US markets like North Carolina to consider the practice.

Regulating Online Sports Betting By State

Regulated online sports betting is now a state-by-state matter. States decide how, when, and where to offer their own sports wagering products. Each state’s regulations will be unique to that state. Still, some follow the same general rubric. But, that regulation rules only to books and services that operate inside a given state’s borders. In this case, state regulations have no impact on legal online sports betting sites. Just because a sportsbook is not licensed by the US doesn’t mean its a scam. They are often safe real money sportsbooks, provided you choose a respected one.

Legal Sports Betting FAQs