| State | Legal Sports Betting | Online Sports Betting | Recent Legislation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No | No | No |
| Alaska | No | No | No |
| Arizona | Yes | Yes | No |
| Arkansas | Yes | Yes | No |
| California | No | No | Yes |
| Colorado | Yes | Yes | No |
| Connecticut | Yes | Yes | No |
| Canada | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delaware | Yes | No | No |
| District of Columbia | Yes | Yes | No |
| Florida | No | No | Yes |
| Georgia | No | No | Yes |
| Hawaii | No | No | No |
| Idaho | No | No | No |
| Illinois | Yes | Yes | No |
| Indiana | Yes | Yes | No |
| Iowa | Yes | Yes | No |
| Kansas | Yes | Yes | No |
| Kentucky | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Louisiana | Yes | Yes | No |
| Maine | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Maryland | Yes | Yes | No |
| Massachusetts | Yes | Yes | No |
| Michigan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Minnesota | No | No | Yes |
| Mississippi | Yes | No | No |
| Missouri | No | No | Yes |
| Montana | Yes | No | No |
| Nebraska | Yes | No | No |
| Nevada | Yes | Yes | No |
| New Hampshire | Yes | Yes | No |
| New Jersey | Yes | Yes | No |
| New Mexico | Yes | No | No |
| New York | Yes | Yes | No |
| North Carolina | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| North Dakota | No | No | No |
| Ohio | Yes | Yes | No |
| Oklahoma | No | No | No |
| Oregon | Yes | Yes | No |
| Ontario | Yes | Yes | No |
| Pennsylvania | Yes | Yes | No |
| Rhode Island | Yes | Yes | No |
| South Carolina | No | No | No |
| South Dakota | Yes | No | No |
| Tennessee | Yes | Yes | No |
| Texas | No | No | Yes |
| Utah | No | No | No |
| Vermont | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Virginia | Yes | Yes | No |
| Washington | Yes | No | No |
| West Virginia | Yes | Yes | No |
| Wisconsin | No | No | No |
| Wyoming | Yes | Yes | No |
Check out the timeline and history of legal sports betting in the United States.
Recently, there have been attempts to legalize sports betting, but nothing has come to pass. Between 2019 and 2021, there were four bills brought to legalize sports betting but all four were unsuccessful.
The most recent attempt was in 2021, when the state considered legalizing online Alabama sportsbooks but decided not to vote on SB 319.
Alabama has always had a strict stance on any type of gambling, especially sports. They have no state lottery, no horse racing tracks, and only one Native American tribe (Poarch Band of Creek) with permission to own and operate casinos within state lines.
Not only is sports betting prohibited in Alaska, but gambling, in general, is highly restricted. Bettors looking for action are limited to the likes of bingo, daily fantasy sports, and, occasionally, dogsled racing.
Since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was struck down in 2018, state lawmakers have made few serious attempts to legalize sports betting.
As of April 2023, state-regulated Alaska sports betting has not been authorized by lawmakers. Since the state does not currently have any pending legislation to legalize sports betting, residents are left without a domestic option for betting on any kind of sports event for the foreseeable future.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently seventeen Sportsbooks available in Arizona. Sports betting has been available in Arizona since May 2022 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
There are currently only three Sportsbooks available in Arkansas. Sports betting has been available in Arkansas since March 2022 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
Sports betting will likely not appear on the ballot again until at least 2024 after voters rejected the two sports betting initiatives, Prop 26 and Prop 27, during the November 8, 2022 elections.
Proposition 26 would have allowed retail sports betting at 66 tribal casinos and Santa Anita Park, Del Mar Race Track, Los Alamitos Race Course, and Golden Gate Fields. It would have hardened the power of tribes over gaming in the state. Under this initiative’s terms, online sports betting would not be allowed, dealing a blow to major sportsbook brands like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Proposition 27 would have allowed private sportsbook operators to partner with a California tribe to offer mobile sports betting. California bettors would be able to download sportsbook apps and bet from home.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently twenty Sportsbooks available in Colorado. Sports betting has been available in Colorado since May 2020 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
LEGAL NOW. There are currently two Sportsbooks available in Connecticut. Sports betting has been available in Connecticut since October 2021 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
As of April 2023, no online Sportsbooks are available in Delaware. It was the first state to legalize sports betting after PASPA was overturned in 2018. As a result, Delaware now boasts a small but successful retail sports betting industry. There are three physical locations in the state where bettors can place their wagers. However, nothing online.
Hopefully, the absence of online sportsbooks changes soon. According to ESPN gambling industry writer David Purdum, “Delaware is falling behind. It’s just too easy. It’s almost easier to hop in your car and drive across the state line and place a bet on your phone than it is to drive down to one of the race tracks to do it in person. And that’s the preferred method for the majority of American sports betters.” Delaware saw a 7% drop in its sports wagering revenue in fiscal year 2022.
Meanwhile, surrounding states are seeing a boom in sports betting, which Purdum said is driven by the popularity of online betting. Maryland reports more than $470 million in wagering was done through online betting apps alone in December 2022 – its first full month of mobile betting. Purdum said Delaware could play catch up and allow online betting, but it would require significant investment and approval by the state lottery.
Following the federal ban called PASPA’s overturn in 2018 by the United States Supreme Court, several states had the opportunity to legalize and regulate sports betting at their discretion, except Florida. Florida sports betting is still at a standstill. This is partially due to ongoing legal proceedings that paused all sports betting shortly after it launched in November 2021.
Mobile sports betting was successfully launched through a compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe. However, the Tribe later claimed that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act had been violated. Both sides of the issue argued their stances in court in December 2022. Nevertheless, we won’t get an idea of when a ruling will be handed down until the 2023 legislative session finalizes. There are millions of dollars bet on sports events every year in Florida through offshore books. Nevertheless, these bookmakers are unregulated and operate in legal grey areas.
Though there may be various hurdles to legalizing sports betting legislation in Florida, for example, amending the state constitution with a 60% majority vote to legalize sports betting requires lawmaking, and legislators must agree to create regulations on operators and revenue sharing per game. Moreover, Florida needs to cooperate with sports organizations to maintain fairness during games, complicating the process further.
It’s still anyone’s guess if or when in-state sports betting could be legalized. After a few years of deliberation and little movement, Georgia swiftly put legal sports betting on the radar in 2021. After failing to gain traction in the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions, state lawmakers will have to revisit legalizing mobile wagering in 2024.
There was hope at the start of 2023 when a group of senators began proposing new bills that would legalize sports betting in Georgia. However, multiple pieces of legislation were voted down in March and brought the process back to square one. There are reports that some of the legislators haven’t given up the fight to legalize Georgia mobile sports betting in 2023. However, there is no available timeline for when new legislation on Georgia sports betting sites will be proposed. For now, it is just a waiting game.
Hawaii is one of only two states, along with Utah, with no legal gambling of any kind. However, there have been a couple of faint initiatives over the last year or so. It goes without saying that the state could be a very lucrative market for the betting industry. Below are the most recent updates on efforts to legalize sports betting in the state:
Jan. 31, 2023: Hawaii state Senator Standley Chang proposes a ban on advertising (SB 935) — on television or online — by Nevada casino companies, citing the economic burden of problem gambling.
Jan. 9, 2023: A bill was proposed by Democrat John Mizuno for a single, standalone sportsbook and cardroom. The location would be licensed for 10 years on the island of Oahu. With Hawaii residents spending so much money in Las Vegas every year, Mizuno believes it’s important to explore options to keep local money in the economy.
Idaho has resisted any efforts to legalize sports betting. It is one of a dwindling band of outliers that have never come close to passing a sports wagering bill since 2018. The only other holdovers are Utah, Hawaii, Alaska, Texas, and North Dakota.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently seven Sportsbooks available in Illinois. Sports betting has been available in Illinois since March 2020 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
LEGAL NOW. There are currently thirteen Sportsbooks available in Indiana. Sports betting has been available in Indiana since October 2019 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
LEGAL NOW. There are currently ten Sportsbooks available in Iowa. Sports betting has been available in Iowa since August 2019 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
LEGAL NOW. There are currently six Sportsbooks available in Kansas. Sports betting has been available in Kansas since September 2012 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
LEGAL NOW. Sports Betting in Kentucky is legal as of March 2023. However, it is not operational yet. Rep. Michael Meredith’s bill (HB 551), which passed the House and Senate in March, was signed by Governor Andy Beshear in early April 2023. HB 551 allows both online and retail betting (at racetracks).
LEGAL NOW. There are currently eight Sportsbooks available in Louisiana. Sports betting has been available in Louisiana since January 2022 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
Louisiana took its time adapting, with voters approving a ballot measure in 2020. Within the state, it is unique, in that parishes have to individually allow sports betting.
55 out of 64 parishes voted to legalize sports betting, with Caldwell, Catahoula, Franklin, Jackson, La Salle, Sabine, Union, West Carroll, and Winn as the sole holdouts.
That means you won’t be able to bet online in those parishes as sportsbooks will establish geofences. In that case, you must simply travel to a parish that does allow online sports betting to place your wagers.
LEGAL NOW. However, the launch of sports betting in Maine is likely to be delayed until late 2023 or early next year.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently seven Sportsbooks available in Maryland. Sports betting has been available in Maryland since November 2022 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
LEGAL NOW. There are currently six Sportsbooks available in Massachusetts. Sports betting has been available in Massachusetts since March 2023 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
LEGAL NOW. There are currently sixteen Sportsbooks available in Michigan. Sports betting has been available in Michigan since January 2021 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
Odds improved ever so slightly on May 3, 2023 for Minnesota’s prospects for joining neighboring states in legalizing sports gambling.
There are currently zero online Sportsbooks available in Mississippi. Sports betting has been available in Mississippi since August 2018 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation). However, it is limited to 30 brick-and-mortar locations at casinos.
The first pair of sportsbooks began taking wagers in August 2018, and there are now 23 properties that offer sports betting.
However, online sports betting is still heavily restricted. Currently, it is limited to only taking place on casino grounds using a mobile app version of the respective casino’s retail sportsbook.
After only focusing on retail-only sports betting, Mississippi is starting to make the first tentative steps into online gambling.
Although there have been no bills that have made it out of committee, sportsbooks are beginning to offer access to their online betting apps while on casino grounds. Currently, this is being led by BetMGM, who will give players access when they are at either the Beau Rivage or Gold Stroke Casinos. There is no timetable for when online sports betting will expand.
There were efforts to bring sports betting to Missouri during the 2023 legislative session. Two new house bills, HB581 and HB556, were filed to kick off the session. Much like in 2022, there were multiple bills brought forward in 2023 as legalization has the backing of some prominent industry players in the state. With three weeks left in the State Legislature, it does not appear particularly likely that a legal sports betting bill will pass this year.
The 2023 NFL Draft, held in Kansas City, came and went without legal sports betting in Missouri. Hopefully, things can turn around for sports betting in the state in 2024. In the meantime, residents will have to travel to Illinois, Kansas and other surrounding states in order to place bets.
Montana sports betting has been legal since March 2020. However, the state has a relatively low profile in both online and retail sports betting due in part to its small population of roughly 1 million. Montana’s sports betting market is structured through the state lottery, with limited online options. Despite its unique approach, sports betting in Montana remains a low-key endeavor.
LEGAL NOW. However, the launch of sports betting in Nebraska is likely to be delayed until at least 2024.
Nebraska sports bettors eagerly await the day that they can physically place a sports wager in the state. Following the legalization of sports betting in Nebraska, many residents believed it would be a short wait. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently a whopping fourty-five Sportsbooks available in Nevada. Sports betting has been available in NV since as far back as 1949 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation). That said, some of the bigger players like DraftKings and FanDuel are not operational in Nevada.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently only one Sportsbook available in NH “DraftKings”. Sports betting has been available in NH since December 2019 and you must be 18+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
LEGAL NOW. There are currently nineteen Sportsbooks available in New Jersey. Sports betting has been available in NJ since June 2018 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
While the state could legalize sports betting unilaterally and potentially lose out on revenue sharing from tribal casinos, the road to legalized sports betting across the state would mean navigating a number of barriers, including the re-negotiating of tribal gaming compacts – last updated in 2015 – and new and approved legislation that benefits all sides.
“I think there’s the political will to amend the gating humpbacks to allow sports betting simply because they weren’t contemplated when the latest compacts were negotiated,” said Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque.
However, legalizing online sports betting is complicated. Negotiations with tribes on gaming compacts would likely need to happen before any legislation or go-ahead is approved, Maestas said. If the state were to legalize online sports betting without negotiations, it could affect revenue sharing that the state gets from tribal casinos.
Hopefully, online betting in NM can gain traction in 2024.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently eight Sportsbooks available in New York. Sports betting has been available in New York since January 2022 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
IN 2023, HB 347 finally passed, legalizing online sports betting.
Although retail North Carolina sports betting was legalized in July 2019, it wasn’t until March 18, 2021, that the state took its first legal wager. Furthermore, it was limited to a couple of Native American retail locations.
However, with NC legalizing online sports betting in 2023, bettors could be locking in picks from anywhere in the Tar Heel State by January 2024. At a minimum, it is widely expected that online betting will go live sometime in 2024.
Two bills were introduced to the ND legislature in 2019. This included one which would allow complete legalized online sports betting and one just for retail betting. But both failed to gain any traction, with HB1254 passing through the House, but failing in a landslide 38-7 vote in the Senate.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently eighteen Sportsbooks available in Ohio. Sports betting has been available in Ohio since January 2023 and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
Despite Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desire for sports betting, the issue will fall short again in 2023.
LEGAL NOW. Sports betting has been legal in Oregon since August 2019, and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation). There is only one available online sportsbook, though retail (in-person) wagering is available at select tribal casinos throughout the state.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently 13 mobile Sportsbooks available in Pennsylvania. Sports betting has been legal in Pennsylvania since 2019, and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation). Retail sportsbooks are also at casinos and racetracks throughout the state
LEGAL NOW. Rhode Island was one of the first states to legalize sports betting when the federal ban was lifted in 2018, and offers in-person and online betting. However, there are no household names when it comes to mobile apps to use for sports betting.
No sports betting is legal currently in South Carolina. Bills have been proposed in four separate years and have not passed, with the most current being HB 3749 which is still a long shot for being passed.
We will have to wait for 2024 and beyond.
While online wagering is not legal in South Dakota, there are several retail, in-person sportsbooks available in Deadwood, as well as any of the state’s tribal casinos. There is a sportsbook app, but you must be located on-site at a casino to use them. That said, there has been no traction for online betting as of 2023.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently 11 mobile Sportsbooks available in Tennessee. Sports betting has been legal in Tennessee since November 2020, and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation). There are no in-person retail sportsbooks in Tennessee.
In April 2023, HB1942 was sent to the House Committee, which pushes the bill to be fully considered by the House. Additionally, sports teams throughout the state of Texas pushed for sports betting to be legalized in Texas. However, it was ultimately not legalized before the end of May 2023. Now, it will be at least two more years before it is even considered again.
Utah is vehemently opposed to betting or gambling of any sort, and it may never be legal in the state. Utah’s code states that even if sports betting is federally legalized, they will keep it illegal in the state.
Sports betting is not currently legal in the state of Vermont. There have been attempts to pass legislation to legalize sports betting, but there has been very little support for the bills to pass. We will see what happens in 2024.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently 15 mobile Sportsbooks available in Virginia. Sports betting has been legal in Virginia since March 2021, and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation). Virginia is a majority mobile-only market.
About half of the tribal casinos in the state of Washington have or will have sportsbooks throughout the state. Some of the casinos have partnered with larger sportsbooks, such as FanDuel, BetMGM, and DraftKings sportsbooks, but they are not live, and there is no current timeline for them to go live on mobile.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently nine mobile Sportsbooks available in West Virginia. Sports betting has been legal in West Virginia since March 2018, and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
LEGAL NOW. You can bet on sports in Wisconsin, but only at properties owned by the Oneida Nation. This means that you can only bet in-person at the Oneida Casino complex, or via mobile in very specific locations throughout the Green Bay region. The Oneida Nation owns multiple truck stops and other properties throughout the region where their betting app is available for use.
The Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee has a plan to open a retail in-person sportsbook in the near future.
LEGAL NOW. There are currently four Sportsbooks available in Wyoming. Sports betting has been available in Wyoming since September 2021, and you must be 21+ years of age and physically in the state (verifiable by your mobile device’s geolocation).
"*" indicates required fields
