Kansas The Latest State To Legalize In The US
As you might know, gambling in the United States was strictly forbidden in all but one state before the Supreme Court annulled PASPA (the law that forbade gambling in the USA). The Americans thus only had a chance to legally place their sports bets in Nevada. Nevertheless, the whole gambling landscape has drastically changed in the last four years. Until now, you can legally place sports bets or perform at least some form of gambling in 30 states. Many more are currently in the process of adopting sports betting, while the minority is still hesitant to make changes in this field.
In this article, which has been prepared with the support of the US sportsbetting experts at Betting Picks 4 You, we are going to go through the states that have already legalized gambling to see where you can legally place your sports wagers at this very moment.
Delaware as one of the sports betting pioneers
Arizona adopted the pastime in April of 2021 and currently allows 20 betting operators. Three months later, Oaklawn Tracing Casino Resort opened its doors to the public becoming the inaugural official sports betting operator in Arkansas. It is, however, worth noting that mobile betting is still out of service here.
Colorado embraced sports betting almost one full year before Arizona. To be more precise, it occurred in May 2022. The state also brought casino games to a higher level by removing the existing wagering limits. Connecticut joined the party in September 2021, five months later than Arizona.
Delaware were one of the pioneers of legal sports wagering in the United States since the state needed no more than a month to legalize the activity straight after the Supreme Court abolished PASPA. We now come to Florida where the situation is still shaky because of the illegal agreement between Hard Rock Sportsbook and the Seminole Tribe. The state legalized sports wagering in 2021 but the legal issues still prevent Floridians to place their bets.
Illinois embraced the new industry in March 2020 but it is worth noting that the in-state collegiate matches do not enter the category of allowed events for sports betting. The residents of Indiana do not have such problems because they have permission to place wagers on any professional or collegiate sporting event as of September 2019. Iowa followed the pattern in 2019 as well, allowing all types of sports and leagues along the way.
Kansas as the most recent addition
Kansas is one of the latest states to have adopted sports betting. Their residents can legally place wagers on the Chiefs or any other NFL team, or any outfit from other sports, since July 2022. Louisiana is another state that follows the steps of the sports betting pioneers. They legalized in-person wagering in October 2021, while their residents were permitted to place bets from their mobile devices in January 2022.
Maryland’s lawmakers adopted the niche in 2020. The first in-person bets were not placed until December 2021, though, at Horseshoe Casino Baltimore. Online gambling and sports betting were fully allowed in Michigan as of March 2020, following Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s approval in late 2019. The famous PASPA repeal was made in the spring of 2018. Mississippi were among the quickest states to react, adopting the changes in August 2018.
Sports wagering was welcomed to Montana in March 2020 where the whole process is regulated by the state lottery. Nebraska expanded its list of allowed casino games in 2020, while Governor Pete Ricketts signed a bill to allow sports wagering in May 2021. We are still waiting on the introduction of online gambling in Nebraska, though. New Hampshire joined the club in early 2020 by signing a six-year contract with DraftKings, making them the operator No 1 in the state.
New Jersey were also one of the sports betting pioneers in the United States. Their lawmakers had a big impact on the whole PASPA abolition in 2018 after all. The first operators in Atlantic City were open in June 2018. New Mexico is a very interesting state regarding sports wagering. In theory, it is legal, but only at five tribal casinos for now, including the Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel.
New York opened its inaugural official sportsbook in July 2019, while it welcomed online sports betting in January 2022.
North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon are all in
In North Carolina, gambling is fully regulated by the Cherokee Tribe. Ohio have already adopted the new niche but we are only expecting the first bets there in January 2023. Oregon started accepting sports wagers in August 2019.
Much like New Jersey or Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island were among the first states to accept sports wagering. In South Dakota, you can only place in-person wagers for now, but the state is in the process of allowing mobile betting as well. Tennessee and Virginia were both in by 2021. Washington still only allows bets in brick-and.-mortar casinos, while the sports wagering apps saw the daylight in Washington D.C. in May 2019. Finally, gambling is also legal in West Virginia and Wyoming.
Several states such as Vermont, Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Missouri, and Kentucky are in the process of launching sports betting following the propositions by their current lawmakers. Judging by the enormous success the niche has had in the aforementioned states so far, we will likely see the remaining states following the pattern and regulating this ever-growing industry sooner rather than later.