Online Sports Betting in the USA

Arkansas voters approved sports betting via referendum in the November 2018 elections. The ballot measure asked voters if they would like to authorize retail sportsbooks at four preselected locations consisting of two existing racetrack-casinos (racinos) and at two casinos that were still in the early planning stages at the time.

The Arkansas sports betting law did not authorize mobile sportsbook apps; it is strictly limited to wagers placed in-person at each of the four casinos. Online betting would have been a convenient addition, but Arkansas is certainly moving in the right direction.

Read More: Arkansas Sports Betting.

Colorado voters legalized sports betting through a statewide referendum held in November 2019. The measure was approved by a slight majority, but enough to bring retail sportsbooks and online sports betting to Colorado beginning May 2020.

Under the law, each casino in Colorado may operate a retail sportsbook on premises and one mobile sportsbook app that accepts wagers from customers across the state.

Read more: Colorado Sports Betting.

Delaware was the first state to authorize sports betting after the 2018 Supreme Court decision striking down PASPA.

This was made possible by a piece of legislation the state passed in 2009 that sought to legalize sports betting. The NCAA and major sports leagues challenged Delaware’s gambling law and a court agreed that the law violated PASPA.

The 2009 law was stopped from taking effect, but lawmakers never actually repealed it. For nearly a decade, the law simply sat on the books, unenforced. The Supreme Court’s 2018 decision removed PASPA from the equation, which in turn made it a simple thing for lawmakers to dust off the old law and bring sports betting back to the state’s three licensed casinos.

Read More: Delaware Sports Betting.

Illinois passed a wide-ranging sports betting bill in 2019 authorizing casinos, racetracks and professional sports stadiums to operate retail sportsbooks and mobile betting apps. Pro sports teams were given the option to install in-stadium sportsbooks and were given a five-block radius in which they may accept wagers either in-person or via mobile apps.

Racetracks and casinos may partner with major operators such as FanDuel and DraftKings to launch retail sportsbooks and mobile sports betting apps accessible from anywhere within state lines. Additionally, the IL Lottery was given authorization to accept parlay-style sports wagers through a maximum of 5,000 betting kiosks.

Read more here: Illinois Sports Betting

Indiana legalized sports betting in mid-2019 with a law authorizing casinos to operate retail sportsbooks and mobile betting apps. The industry-friendly law established a low tax rate, allows competition from multiple providers and gives players plenty of options when it comes to choosing a place to bet.

The Indiana Gaming Commission is tasked with regulating sports betting throughout the state and issuing licenses to operators. Sports fans must be at least 21 years old to place wagers at the casino or through mobile sportsbooks.

Read More: Indiana Sports Betting.

Sports betting was legalized in Iowa roughly one year after the Supreme Court struck down the federal prohibition. In Iowa, casinos may apply for sports betting licenses in order to run in-person sportsbooks and up to two individual mobile apps.

The law specified customers must register for mobile betting at a local casino before placing wagers online from the date the law was passed until 1 January 2021. Moving forward, customers may sign up online without having to visit a casino in person. The minimum age to bet on sports in Iowa is 21 and you must be physically present within state lines in order to place wagers.

Read More: Iowa Sports Betting.

Michigan legalized sports betting in 2019 with a gaming expansion package that authorized retail sportsbooks, mobile betting, online casinos and online poker. Under the law, each of Michigan’s casinos gained the ability to apply for sportsbook licenses allowing them to launch on-property betting a mobile betting platform.

The MI sports betting law establishes a minimum age of 21 to bet on sports and requires all bettors to be physically present within state lines to bet online.

Read more: Michigan Sports Betting.

Mississippi was another early mover on sports betting with a law passed in June 2018 to legalize retail sportsbooks at authorized casinos. The first legal wager in Mississippi was placed on 1 August 2018 and the state now has dozens of legal sportsbooks.

Mobile sports betting has not yet been authorized in Mississippi. Current law restricts all betting to customers actually present inside one of the state’s licensed casinos. The minimum sports betting age in Mississippi is 21.

Read More: Mississippi Sports Betting.

Montana had to take a unique approach to sports betting due to the state not having any land-based casinos. Rather than authorizing traditional sportsbooks, lawmakers opted to pass a law allowing the MT Lottery to place sports betting kiosks at certain bars and restaurants.

Mobile betting is technically legal in MT, but the convenience of mobile sportsbooks in MT is limited by one unfortunate rule: players must be located inside a licensed establishment in order to place bets via mobile devices.

Read More: Montana Sports Betting.

Nevada has long offered sports betting through standard retail sportsbooks and was the first state to authorize mobile betting back in 2010. Under state law, bettors must register their mobile betting accounts in-person. After registering in person, customers may place wagers via mobile apps from anywhere within state lines.

Read More: Nevada Sports Betting.

New Hampshire legalized retail sportsbooks and mobile betting in July 2019. The new law enforces a minimum age of 18 to bet on sports and allows customers to bet on pro and college games alike.

The New Hampshire Lottery is in charge of regulating sports betting and chose Intralot to manage sports wagering offered through lottery retailers/kiosks and DraftKings to operate mobile sports betting and retail sportsbooks.

Read more: New Hampshire Sports Betting.

It is largely thanks to New Jersey that the federal sports betting prohibition has been overturned.

Governor Chris Christie initiated a legal battle over sports betting way back in 2011 and 2012 when a state referendum and a subsequent law legalizing sports betting prompted the NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL to enjoin the new law in New Jersey.

This kicked off what would become a six-year legal battle with New Jersey on one side and the country’s biggest sports organizations on the other. You can read all the gritty details on our New Jersey page, but the long and short of it is New Jersey came back from the edge of defeat to claim victory in the highest court of the land.

The Supreme Court sided with New Jersey to put an end to the federal law that had stopped the states from enacting sports betting laws.

Once the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, momentum began to shift and New Jersey started to look like it might actually win the case.

While that was all playing out, a surprisingly large number of states pursued sports betting legislation of their own. Certain lawmakers in these states wanted to be ready to move quickly on the chance that the Supreme Court decided to rule PASPA unconstitutional.

A flurry of activity among legislators across the nation indicates we’re just getting started. New Jersey has already been joined by numerous states in passing bills to legalize and regulate sports betting. The longstanding prohibition has finally come to an end.

Read More: New Jersey Sports Betting.

Sports betting came to New Mexico through a non-traditional route. Rather than waiting for lawmakers to take action, Native American groups decided to launch sportsbooks at their tribal casinos. The Santa Ana Star Casino & Hotel was the first to act in late 2018 and it was followed by others in early 2019.

The Native American groups insist their sportsbooks are legal under existing tribal-state compacts and so far, state officials have declined to push the issue. While other potential operators sit on the sidelines waiting for legislation, the state’s tribal casinos are enjoying the fruits of legal sports betting.

Read More: New Mexico Sports Betting.

New York got the ball rolling on legal sports betting way back in 2013 with a referendum allowing the state’s commercial casinos to operate sportsbooks pending a change in federal law. After the Supreme Court overturned PASPA, the NY Gaming Commission drafted regulations to govern sportsbooks throughout the state.

Those regulations were finalized in June 2019 and the first retail sportsbooks launched the following month. Tribal casinos also have the ability to offer sports betting thanks to gaming compacts between the tribes and the state. Multiple sportsbooks are now open for business across New York.

Online and mobile betting in New York is still a work in progress. Some lawmakers believe mobile betting would require a constitutional amendment and public referendum, while others believe mobile betting can be legalized via legislative action only. This is a story we will be watching very closely over coming months.

Read more: New York Sports Betting.

North Carolina passed a limited sports betting bill in 2019 authorizing tribal casinos to launch sportsbooks, subject to state-tribal compact negotiations. Harrah’s Cherokee and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River have since announced plans to open on-site sportsbooks as soon as possible.

Read more: North Carolina Sports Betting.

Oregon did not need to pass new legislation in order to authorize sports betting due to already having a limited form of sports betting in place before the federal sports betting prohibition (PASPA) was enacted.

During the PASPA days, the Oregon Lottery ran a parlay-style wagering game known as Sports Action and received an exemption from the betting prohibition. The state legislature eventually passed legislation ending Sports Action, but the state was able to restart sports betting after the Supreme Court overturned PASPA on constitutional grounds.

The Oregon Lottery officially launched the Scoreboard mobile app and website in October 2019 offering fans statewide access to legal sports betting.

Read more: Oregon Sports Betting.

Pennsylvania was one of the first states to legalize sports betting with legislation that was passed back in 2017 – even before the landmark Supreme Court decision. Funnily enough, PA ended up being quite slow in the actual implementation of sports betting despite being among the first to pass a law regulating the industry.

The first PA sportsbooks launched in late 2018 and the first betting apps followed in mid-2019. Pennsylvania is also one of the only states with legal online casino games and poker sites. Overall, Pennsylvania has one of the most robust online gaming markets.

Read More: Pennsylvania Sports Betting.

Rhode Island has a limited sports betting market comprised entirely of sportsbooks located at the two Twin River casinos. A budget bill approved by Governor Gina Raimondo in 2018 authorized sportsbooks at Twin River Lincoln and Tiverton Casino.

Mobile betting launched in September 2019 through the state-approved Sports Bet RI brand. Customers must be 21 or older and register in-person at one of the Twin River casinos.

Read More: Rhode Island Sports Betting.

Tennessee passed a law on May 24th, 2019 authorizing mobile sports betting. Under the law, operators may apply for licenses to offer sports betting via mobile apps and online for desktop users. Interestingly, Tennessee was the first state in the Union to pass an online-only sports betting law. The law places no restrictions on the number of operators that may apply for licenses.

Additionally, the law does not require operators to hold an existing gambling license because Tennessee does not have brick-and-mortar casinos. Most other states have granted the existing casino industry a monopoly over sports betting licenses. That is not the case in Tennessee.

Read more: Tennessee Sports Betting.

The Virginia legislature legalized retail sportsbooks and mobile betting via legislation passed in April 2020. The VA sports betting law allows up to twelve online-only operators not tied to land-based casinos plus sportsbooks operated by qualifying sports franchises, stadiums and NASCAR racetracks.

Additional legislation passed at the same time paved the way for the construction of up to five casinos in various cities across the Commonwealth. Those casinos may also offer retail sportsbooks and online betting.

Read more: Virginia Sports Betting

Lawmakers in West Virginia did gamblers a big favor in 2018 by passing legislation to authorize online sports betting, casino games and poker. Just as importantly, lawmakers resisted the temptation to squeeze the industry for every last penny with a sensible tax rate of just 10% for operators and crafted the legislation to foster competition among the state’s various casinos.

The WV sports betting model will serve as a useful comparison point to the high-tax, high-licensing fee model enacted in Pennsylvania. As the industry matures, it will be useful for lawmakers in other states to compare WV to PA in terms of profitability, tax revenue per capita and effectiveness at channeling players away from offshore betting sites.

The first WV mobile betting apps have since gone live. Fans 21+ and physically located within state lines are eligible to bet online at licensed sportsbooks.

Read More: West Virginia Sports Betting.

Washington legalized sports betting in March 2020 with a bill authorizing retail sportsbooks at tribal casinos. The bill is somewhat limited in scope compared to laws approved in other states allowing mobile betting, but its passage was a big development for a state that has long resisted most forms of gaming other than tribal casinos.

The Washington Gambling Commission has been charged with overseeing the conduct of sports betting and issuing licenses.

Read more: Washington Sports Betting.

Despite being the smallest jurisdiction to tackle the sports betting issue, Washington DC has taken a serious stab at also getting a piece of the pie. A law introduced in 2018 and approved in 2019 set the stage for a unique betting landscape consisting of brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at authorized retailers, sportsbooks placed in major stadiums and a single mobile app to serve the rest of the city.

Mobile betting debuted for Washington DC residents in May 2020 with the launch of GambetDC. The GambetDC website is accessible from any desktop and most mobile devices for customers who are 18 or older. The website may be accessed and deposits made from anywhere, but customers must be located within city limits to place wagers.

Read More: Washington DC Sports Betting.

• [1] Illinois charges: Racetracks, the lesser of 5% track handle from previous year or $10 million; Casinos, the lesser of 5% GGR from previous year or $10 million; $10 million for sports stadia; $20 million for an online-only license
• [2] Michigan taxes tribal operators at 8.4% and commercial casinos at 9.65%
• [3] Mississippi only allows on-property mobile
• [4] New Hampshire operators bid on contracts based on a revenue share arrangement
• [5] DraftKings will pay 51% of its revenue to the state
• [6] New Jersey taxes online revenue from casinos at 13% and online revenue from horsetracks at 14.25%

The NFL is by far the most dominant sport in the United States, both in terms of viewing and betting. In 2019, the American Gaming Association estimated 15% of the adult US population would wager on games that season. The AGA also found that nearly a quarter of Americans would wager on NFL games each year if they had legal and convenient access to sports betting.

Legal NFL betting now exists in a growing number of states. Some states authorize in-person sportsbooks only, others allow online betting, and some allow both. See our NFL betting page below for more information about where it’s legal, how it works and where to bet online.

• Read more: NFL Betting in the USA

NFL Position on Sports Betting: Supports Federal Legislation

In a statement issued on May 21^st, 2018, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell laid out his wishes for sports betting regulations. Among his wishes are requirements that sportsbook operators purchase official data from the league for the purpose of settling wagers and ensuring the league can protect its “content and intellectual property.”

The NFL is now urging Congress to pass regulations at the federal level in order to create a nationwide standard rather than a patchwork of state laws.

Busy seasons, fast-paced games and sudden changes in momentum make the NBA another attractive target for sports betting. According to data from Nevada going back to 1992, the total amount of money wagered on NBA games is second only to the NFL.

• Read more: NBA Betting in the USA

NBA Position on Sports Betting: Supports and Wants to Shape Legalization

The NBA was the first major professional American sports league to soften its stance on sports betting and begin lobbying efforts. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver penned an op-ed way back in 2014 voicing his support of legalization.  Silver argued in his op-ed that sports betting is already happening today even though it’s illegal, and that it would be better to legalize it, bring out of the shadows and regulate it.

The NBA has said in the past that it would prefer to see a national solution rather than a patchwork state-by-state approach. That being said, the NBA has been busy lobbying lawmakers across a number of states in an effort to get concessions that would help the NBA included in any legislation.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued this statement following the Supreme Court ruling.

Although the MLB opposed sports betting every step of the way during New Jersey’s challenge of the federal prohibition, the MLB has quickly changed its tune to be more supportive of legal wagering. Today, the MLB actually partners with major betting operators for branding, advertising and data purposes.

• Read more: MLB Betting in the USA

MLB Position on Sports Betting: Evolving, favors regulation

The MLB has a long history of being opposed to sports betting in the USA, which is no surprise considering the league has suffered more than its fair share of gambling scandals.

In 2017, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league was “reexamining” its stance on sports betting.

The MLB did not take a hard position either way at first, but the league is still actively lobbying for bills that are favorable to the MLB. In 2018, the MLB took its first official stance on a sports betting bill when the league came out against a bill that was passed in West Virginia.

After the Supreme Court decision, the NBA issued a new statement stating the league would like to protect the integrity of its games and would support legislation it deems conducive to that goal.

The NHL has a unique culture of die-hard fans and rivalries that make every game worth a watch. Like the other major pro leagues, the NHL has thawed its formerly icy relationship with sports betting since 2018. Now, the NHL is not afraid to partner with large sportsbook brands, even going so far as to name some “official sports wagering partners.”

• Read more: NHL Betting in the USA

NHL Position on Sports Betting: No Major Changes; Policies Under Review

The NHL seems unconcerned with sports betting. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman insists the NHL is not a popular target for sports bettors and accounts for a tiny percentage of the dollars that are bet on sports every year.

After the ruling, the NHL issued this statement that basically said it would monitor the situation and respond to the decision as needed.

The PGA has been particularly quick to take advantage of the new opportunities presented by legal sports betting. In fact, the PGA was the first major US league to directly enter the sports betting business.

In a sport in which nearly every competition is played as a tournament with a single winner, sportsbooks have come up with a surprising diversity of golf betting options. In addition to wagers on who will win, sportsbooks offer head-to-head matchups between individual golfers on who will have the best round, who will have the lowest first round, whether or not there will be a hole in one and much more.

• Read more: PGA Betting in the USA

PGA Position on Sports Betting: Supports Regulation

The PGA officially came out in support of sports betting legalization with a statement issued in April of 2018 that said it “supports the regulation of sports betting in a safe and responsible manner.”

The PGA also appears to be joining forces with the NBA and MLB to push for concessions such as integrity fees that would funnel to the leagues a percentage of every bet placed on their games.

After the ruling, the PGA Tour issued a statement reiterating its stance.

College betting tends to be subject to greater regulatory scrutiny due to concerns that amateur athletes are most susceptible to corruption. As a result, some states prohibit college betting altogether while others prohibit wagers on games involving in-state teams. Yet other states impose no restrictions on college betting at all.

NCAA Position on Sports Betting: Supports Federal Legislation

The NCAA had been consistently in opposition of legal US sports betting until the Supreme Court struck down PASPA. The NCAA publicly stated that it “opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering, which has the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community.”

After the ruling, the NCAA altered its stance to support regulation and even drop its longstanding policy that formerly prohibited championships from being held in states with legal sports betting.

The NCAA now supports a federal model for regulating sports betting according to a statement issued after the ruling. In a statement, the NCAA said it remains committed to prohibit wagering by athletes and officials, and will support all regulations necessary to protect the integrity of competition.

Later, NCAA President Mark Emmert seemed to alter his organization’s stance back to one of increased hostility towards sports betting. Speaking in front of the NCAA annual convention in January of 2019, Emmert said this.

“Sports wagering is going to have a dramatic impact on everything we do in college sports. It’s going to threaten the integrity of college sports in many ways unless we are willing to act boldly and strongly.”

This sounds like yet another call for federal regulation, but Emmert did not expand on his comments regarding the need “to act boldly and strongly.” In any case, the statement seems a bit out of place considering people have been betting on NCAA college games in Las Vegas for years.

Unlike the other major professional sports in the US, the UFC has long maintained a friendly relationship with sports betting. Whether it was the UFC hosting events at casinos or president Dana White openly discussing his propensity to bet large sums of money in Vegas, the UFC has never worked particularly hard to distance itself from sports betting.

Read more: Legal UFC Betting.

Tennis betting accounts for a small portion of the handle taken by sportsbook operators compared to the likes of football, basketball and baseball. However, tennis betting is highly popular overseas and now stands to benefit immensely thanks to the legalization of online betting here in the United States.

The ATP has a complicated relationship with sports betting. Highly visible match fixing scandals have rocked the organization in recent years, but the league has not shied away from taking advantage of the opportunities presented by sports betting.

Read more: Legal Tennis Betting.

NASCAR betting is now taking place in the US at land-based and online sportsbooks alike. With the sport looking for new ways to increase fan engagement, the legalization of sports betting has come at a convenient time for NASCAR. The first example of NASCAR taking advantage of legal sports betting came in early 2020 when it announced a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Penn National Gaming.

• Read more: Legal NASCAR Betting

Legal soccer betting in the US covers all major international leagues and MLS games. International leagues are already well-acquainted with sports betting and work closely with operators in other countries for sponsorship and branding purposes. Here in the US, Major League Soccer and US Soccer are also cozying up to sports betting via partnerships such as their deal with Stats Perform for live betting data.

• Read more: Legal Soccer Betting