North Dakota Sports Betting

Legal sports betting in North Dakota came to the state via tribal gaming operators opening retail sportsbooks at their casinos.

Online betting options in North Dakota are limited to advance deposit wagering (horse racing betting sites) and daily fantasy sports apps. Lawmakers have considered several bills to expand North Dakota sports betting options beyond tribal casinos but haven’t yet passed anything into law.

Other North Dakota gambling options include tribal casinos, parimutuel wagering at race tracks, and the state lottery, which also offers its games online. Sweepstakes casinos also accept players from North Dakota.

Legal North Dakota Betting Sites

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21+ and present in North Dakota. T&Cs Apply. Gambling Problem? Call 1-877-702-7848 or visit gamblernd.com.

North Dakota Sports Betting Overview

North Dakota is home to several retail sportsbooks at tribal casinos:

Although North Dakota sports betting has not been formally legalized, tribal gaming operators have opened retail sportsbooks under gaming compacts they reached with the state in 2013.

A section in each gaming compact addresses the forms of gaming the tribes may offer. One line in that section authorizes sports betting in North Dakota as long as it doesn’t violate the now-repealed Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act:

G. Sports Book except as prohibited by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act

The Supreme Court’s 2018 decision to overturn PASPA removed the only hurdle between tribal casinos and sportsbooks in North Dakota. Tribal gaming leaders met with the Governor in 2018 to discuss the issue, and the first North Dakota sportsbooks opened two years later.

North Dakota Online Sports Betting

Online sports betting in North Dakota is still illegal, but lawmakers are warming to the idea of legalization. Two bills introduced in January 2023 open the door to legalizing online sportsbooks and mobile betting apps, albeit indirectly.

First was HCR 3002, which calls for a Constitutional amendment granting the legislature the authority to legalize and regulate sports betting.

HCR 3002 would not legalize online sports betting in North Dakota by itself, but it would clear the biggest hurdle proponents currently face: a provision in the North Dakota Constitution that prohibits all gambling except the lottery, charity gaming, and tribal casinos.

Later, lawmakers introduced SB 2358 to create a sports betting task force to “develop a comprehensive statewide implementation plan for online sports betting and regulation.”

If approved, SB 2358 would have the task force create a plan that considers consumer protection, the state’s interests, and various regulatory models. Then, the task force would draft a legislative proposal for the North Dakota legislature.

The first North Dakota sports betting sites are still a long way off, but plans are in motion, and lawmakers are seriously considering different proposals to implement their vision.

As a result, the odds of North Dakota online sports betting becoming a reality are better now than at any time in the past.

Shortly after the Supreme Court overturned PASPA, two lawmakers said they would take advantage of the opportunity and introduce legislation to legalize sports betting.

Two bills appeared in 2019, but neither addressed online sports betting or made significant progress.

HB 1295 would have legalized sports betting as a game of chance and permitted licensed charitable organizations to offer wagers on professional sports only. The scope of ND sports betting under this bill would have been limited due to preexisting rules on charitable gaming that restrict the frequency of gambling events they may hold each year.

HB 1254 sought to establish a similar set of rules but would have permitted betting on college sports as well as professional sports.

HB 1295 died in committee while HB 1254 made it through a full House vote but died in the Senate.

Lawmakers introduced additional legislation in 2021 that would have put a sports betting referendum on the 2022 election ballot. The bill easily passed a House vote but suffered a narrow defeat in the Senate, setting back any hope for online sports betting in North Dakota until 2025 at the earliest.

North Dakota Daily Fantasy Sports

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Daily fantasy sports sites and apps are the closest experience to online sports betting in North Dakota. Both forms of wagering require a similar skill set and both can be supremely profitable for knowledgeable sports fans. These days, it is not uncommon to find daily fantasy contests that offer six or seven-figure prizes to the top-performing players.

North Dakota does not license or regulate daily fantasy sports, but all major DFS operators accept ND residents as customers. The legality of DFS in North Dakota is unclear because state law makes no mention of fantasy sports contests and lawmakers have yet to pass legislation addressing the issue.

Fantasy sports games are exempt from federal anti-gambling laws, but each state still has the right to authorize or prohibit fantasy sports at the state level. It is unclear if North Dakota gambling laws can be applied to fantasy sports.

ND Century Code §12.1-28-02 (3) states it is a class C felony to conduct a “wagering pool or lottery,” However, the state also provides an exemption from the legal definition of “gambling” for contests of skill. Currently, DFS providers consider their games to be contests of skill and operate openly in North Dakota. To date, the state has declined to take action against fantasy operators.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem offered a statement a few years back that provided little help to anyone looking for legal clarity. He said, “If it’s a game of chance, it’s not likely legal. And if it’s a game of skill, then it would likely be legal.”

He went on to explain:

“People who say it’s a game of skill say they carefully select their players, they look at the history, all the things that go into the selection of their team and then they make their choice. The other side says its pure chance whatever is going to happen.”

In any case, all the major daily fantasy sports sites operate in North Dakota without issue today.

North Dakota Horse Racing Betting

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Parimutuel horse wagering is legal in North Dakota at live tracks, simulcasting facilities and via online horse racing betting sites and apps. The North Dakota Racing Commission oversees the state’s two horse race tracks:

North Dakota Online Horse Racing Betting

North Dakota is unique in that it doesn’t just permit online horse betting; it actually serves as one of the country’s major advance deposit wagering licensing hubs. The North Dakota Racing Commission regulates and licenses numerous online horse racing betting sites and mobile horse racing betting apps.

Many of the largest horse betting sites hold a North Dakota Racing Commission license. Horse betting sites that are licensed in other states and jurisdictions are also permitted to offer their services to residents.

Some of the bigger horse racing betting sites and apps that accept customers from North Dakota include:

A handful of North Dakota off-track betting parlors (OTBs) are also available across the state:

North Dakota Online Gambling

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The Criminal Code of North Dakota considers gambling to be any activity in which the participants risk “any money, credit, deposit, or other thing of value for gain, contingent, wholly or partially, upon lot, chance, the operation of gambling apparatus, or the happening or outcome of an event, including an election or sporting event, over which the person taking the risk has no control.”

Currently, North Dakota law prohibits the operation of online casinos or poker sites. Lawmakers considered legislation to legalize online poker back in 2005.

Representative James Kasper introduced HCR 3035 in 2005 as an attempt to get North Dakota to become the first state in the US to legalize online poker and offer oversight over the industry.

Had it passed, HCR 3035 would have allowed online poker sites to relocate to North Dakota and accept wagers from all 49 states except for states that opted out. Rep. Kasper put forth a comprehensive argument for regulating online poker, noting the potential tax revenue and safety issues that a licensing regime would have addressed. Ultimately, HCR 3035 was defeated in the Senate with a vote that overwhelmingly rejected the proposal. North Dakota hasn’t pushed for any other measures to legalize the industry since then.

North Dakota’s gaming tribes revived the issue in 2022 by requesting amendments to their gaming compacts that would authorize statewide online sports betting and gambling. Governor Burgum rejected the request because he doesn’t have the authority to expand North Dakota gambling in such a way, but he did grant the tribes two concessions by allowing them to reduce the legal gambling age from 21 to 19 at tribal casinos and allowing patrons use credit and debit cards.

Lawmakers don’t seem particularly interested in pushing the issue at this time so it will likely be a while before anyone takes another stab at exanding online gambling in North Dakota.

The legal definition of gambling in North Dakota provides exceptions for games of skill and private games in which the participants wager no more than $25 at a time. Anyone who is caught participating in outlawed gambling games is subject to an “infraction” for which there is a fine of up to $1,000. Anyone convicted of more than one infraction in a year may be charged with a Class B misdemeanor for which there is a fine of up to $1500 and up to thirty days of imprisonment.

North Dakota’s Criminal Code does take the “business of gambling” more seriously. Anyone who conducts a wagering pool or lottery, receives wagers on behalf of another person or organizes an unlicensed gambling operation can be charged with a Class C felony. The punishment for conviction of a Class C felony in North Dakota is up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

North Dakota Online Lottery

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The North Dakota Lottery was established in 2004 after voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing the sale of tickets to multistate drawings. The ND Lottery is a small operation that only sells tickets to Powerball, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life, Lotto America and 2by2 with no other games or scratch cards on offer.

ND residents 18 and older can visit the ND Lottery website or download the official mobile app to buy tickets online. Players may buy a single ticket at a time or buy subscriptions to multiple drawings, for up to a year in advance.

Winnings of $599 or less are deposited directly into customers’ online accounts and may be withdrawn electronically. Winnings of $600 or more must be claimed in person.

North Dakota Sports Betting FAQ

North Dakota sportsbooks only accept customers 21 or older.

Yes. Tribal sportsbooks in North Dakota accept wagers on college games. Gaming compacts between the tribes and state do not enforce any special restrictions on college sports wagering, so sportsbooks may accept bet on in-state and out-of-state universities.

No, but lawmakers are actively exploring methods to legalize online sports betting in North Dakota.

Yes. ND horse racing fans can wager on Triple Crown races using any of the licensed advance deposit wagering betting apps, or in person at any off-track betting facility.