Legal Betting
LEGAL US ONLINE GAMBLING GUIDE Gambling online is quickly becoming the way to place a bet. More Americans are turning to their mobile devices and laptops to play their favorite slots, poker games or bet on sports online. If you live, work, vacation in the US, you are probably much closer to a legal gambling state than you think.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Sports betting is now legal in 21 states and another five recently passed bills.
- Feb 04, 2021 Horse racing betting in Illinois is a thriving industry and legal throughout the state. The state boasts over two dozen pari-mutuel wagering facilities – also called OTBs or off-track betting sites – where horse races are simulcast for all to enjoy. Two major horse tracks are located outside of Chicago.
- Legal international sports betting has been available to Americans for decades, and does not violate any US federal laws. There are only two states that prohibit offshore online betting: Connecticut and the state of Washington. Offshore sportsbooks covering NFL betting lines offer attractive bonuses and a wide range of wagering options.
- Sports betting is more popular, and legal, than ever, and one of biggest draws for bettors every year is wagering on the Big Game. But, like everything else right now, COVID-19 is having an impact.
Media outlets are spending more time discussing wagers and new TV shows are springing up to promote the odds and ends of sports gambling.
This week, during the live TV coverage of the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Golf Channel and NBC, streaming service Peacock Premium will debut what it’s billing as the “first-ever betting companion show during a PGA Tour event – a live second-screen experience entitled NBC Sports Edge BetCast.”
NBC will have 10 hours of this content – 2 ½ hours a day – spread out over the four days of competition. A big focus will be how golfer’s odds change throughout the course of a round or the week.
Arizona is not among those states were betting is legal, so fans on site at the Phoenix Open this week won’t be legally betting on a particular golfer.
But beyond this week’s event, how will legal sports betting affect the PGA Tour? Three golfers in the field at the Phoenix Open were asked for their opinions.
Webb Simpson
Yeah, I’m not well-versed in this area. I’ve been in conversations with guys where the only thing it seems like most guys are worried about is while we’re playing, is there going to be more chatter before and after shots or before and after made or missed putts, guys out there gambling on us. Hopefully the PGA Tour has a very strict plan on that kind of banter from spectators to players. Hopefully they’ll put a strict plan in place that we’re not going to have kind of the comments from the bettors out there during the round. That’s obviously something we’ve never dealt with. Hopefully we don’t have to. That’s just one potential problem I see.
Justin Thomas
It seems to be the way, gambling and the live gambling on sports. Obviously as a player, selfishly, I worry about any sort of sketchiness going on with whether it’s communication within someone that’s out on the grounds and could potentially yell or do something to affect a person that would have, say, a wager or something and that’s a serious, serious concern. We’re out here playing. … this is our job and we’re out here trying to win golf tournaments and a lot of people are supporting families and supporting themselves. I would hope it would never come to that. But at the end of the day you can’t sit there and tell me that that’s not a realistic chance. I would hope that it wouldn’t happen, but I’m sure it’ll turn out great, and yeah, I’m interested to see how it goes.
Jon Rahm
I’ve never put a bet on a sports game in my life, so I have no clue about this. Like none whatsoever. … I mean, somebody having $20 on me making or missing the putt is not going to affect what I do. I can tell you that. I’m pretty sure most of us players have a lot more on the line by making or missing a putt. It’s not what I’m thinking about. It’s something that’s been going on since I was a pro. It’s been going on for a long time. A lot of times you hear fans and they’ll bet between each other. I mean, it’s part of the culture, I would say everywhere. I’m a person that didn’t grow up betting on sports, but it’s becoming bigger in Spain, bigger in Europe. It’s already big here. It’s part of the entertainment, as well. Again, I don’t know much about it, but, I mean, I don’t have a problem with it. Fans got to do what they’ve got to do to enjoy the day.
When the Supreme Court ended PASPA in May 2018, most thought it would take a few years for legal sports betting to be embraced across most of the US.
It looks like that inflection point is already here.
Legal US sports betting is available in 21 jurisdictions so far with more on the way. The last to launch was Virginia, which arrived in time for the Super Bowl.
It’s not just about legalizing either. Multiple states, including New York and Oregon, have sports betting bills that would amend how wagering operates in their states.
Here are efforts in seven other states that are worth keeping an eye on:
Maryland should get legal sports betting this year
Many are eagerly awaiting sports betting legislation out of Maryland after voters approved sports betting last November.
We’re still waiting to see legislation that would legalize MD sports betting, but SB 24 is associated.
Sen. Chris West wants the Maryland State Fair and Agricultural Society to also get a license so it can offer betting at the Maryland State Fairgrounds.
Mississippi trying again for mobile
Mississippi sports betting is alive and well, but only in retail sportsbooks. Mobile betting is technically allowed but is geofenced to a casino’s property.
Full mobile MS sports betting legislation has failed for years but there are three bills trying again this year. None of the bills look to materially change the market.
Sen. Scott DeLano‘s SB 2396 is short and sweet. It would allow each casino operator to offer one online sportsbook each.
Legal Betting Site
Sen. Philip Moran‘s SB 2732 and Rep. Jay McKnight’s HB 1042 tweak the existing legislation to include online betting throughout the state. Moran’s bill also expands betting options to include esports and the Olympics.
Nebraska has three proposals for sports betting
There are multiple bills that would legalize sports betting in Nebraska after residents approved casinos through a referendum last November.
Sen. Justin Wayne is again trying to legalize his Games of Skill Act through LB 545, which would allow both sports betting and certain poker games online. All games of skill would have revenue taxed at 25%.
Sen. Tom Briese wants to legalize sports betting at casino racetracks throughout the state in LB 560. He wants to charge $1 million as a one-time fee to offer betting, which wouldn’t include betting on colleges in Nebraska. The bill would create the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, which would set the tax rate.
Mobile betting would be allowed, though it would be geofenced to the casino properties in “Mississippi mobile” fashion.
The third attempt, LR 26, is a referendum that would allow Nebraska voters whether sports betting should be legal or not.
New Hampshire could add retail sportsbooks
New Hampshire is the land of DraftKings Sportsbook after the state gave DK a monopoly outside of lottery-based betting from Intralot, which has yet to launch.
The state limited physical NH sports betting locations to 10, but there are a few bills that would change that.
HB 330 removes the 10-license cap and allows live betting at retail sportsbooks. HB 181 would let more towns and municipalities vote on whether citizens want a retail sportsbook there and HB 354 cleans up the language of the ballot question.
New Mexico could see gaming expanded at racinos
New Mexico already has sports betting at various tribal casinos but could see that expanded.
HB 101 would legalize sports betting and table games at the state’s five racetracks. Those tracks are already racinos – they operate slot machines and various table games, but those tables are automated games.
The legislation includes online sports betting, which means the state’s tribal casinos could offer betting apps as well. State law allows for six racinos, so naturally, there are six licenses available for both sports betting and table games.
Sportsbooks would pay a $10,000 application fee with an annual $5,000 renewal fee. Sports betting revenue would be taxed at 10%.
North Dakota sports betting could also go online
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians might have influenced this North Dakota online betting bill a bit.
The Chippewa announced last year they would team up with IGT to launch sports betting at their casinos. HB 1448 would take that a step further and allow gaming tribes to launch online casino and sports betting.
A Senate companion isn’t available on the website, though HB 1448 also lists Sen. Richard Marcellais as a sponsor. Marcellais was previously the chairman of the Chippewa.
Washington wants to include cardrooms, racetracks
Legal Betting Websites
Last year, legislators passed a bill to legalize sports betting in Washington state, but it wasn’t complete. The legislature picked the proposal that limited the market the most: no online betting and only at tribal casinos.
SB 5212 aims to change that. Cardrooms and racetracks around the state would be allowed to offer sports betting with online betting also legalized.
Legal Betting In Illinois
Each licensed gaming operator would pay $100,000 for a betting license and would get one skin each. Sports betting revenue would be taxed at 10%.