Where is Sports Betting Legal? List of Online Gambling States in 2023

Sports betting became legal in the US in 2018 when the Supreme Court decided that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is unconstitutional. After a decade of fighting it, News Jersey was one of the first states outside of Nevada to implement legal sports betting in the USA. After that, each state was free to choose if they would allow sports betting within their borders. Out of the fifty states in the USA, only twelve have not moved to sports betting of any kind.

If you want to find out more about legal sports betting and where that is available in your country, feel free to continue reading. We will inform you of everything you need to know about legal sports betting geographically. Keep in mind that none of the states require you to be a resident to be able to place wagers. The only location-related rules are that you have to be inside state lines or inside the retail location itself if you want to place online wagers depending on the state and the law itself.

Where is Online Sports Betting Legal?

Since a few years ago there are quite a few online sports betting states around, but some of them only have physical wagering available. Here, you can see what is legal in your state.

Which States Have Taken the First Sports Betting Steps?

There are some states where it has been decided that sports betting online or in retail locations would be launching soon, but the actual time for the launch hasn’t exactly come yet.

• Nebraska – a launch is expected in late 2022, but potential changes in the law are delaying the launch after the legislature was approved in 2021.
• Kansas – Gov. Laura Kelly signed the bill that would approve in-person wagering and up to 12 sportsbooks in March 2022 and now it’s just a waiting game for the launch. It is estimated that at the beginning of next year sports betting would be available in the state but it could be sooner.
• Ohio – the date for online sports betting apps and in-person wagering is set for January 2023. The bill was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in 2021, which will allow up to 46 different operators in the state.
• Maine – Gov. Janet Mills signed the bill that would legalize sports betting and give control over the Native American tribes in Pine Tree State in May 2022. The launch itself will take some time and you can either expect it in late 2023 or early 2024.

If any of these sports betting legal states manage to launch earlier than expected, we will inform you of that right away. Stay tuned for the most recent information we have on upcoming sports betting in these states or if any other states join the wait list for upcoming legal wagering.

We will mention four other states that have passed some sort of bill or legislature, but it is still waiting for approval by all the lawmakers.

• California – Upcoming referendum during November 2022 elections to decide.
• Florida – There won’t be legal sports betting at least until 2023 unless it comes via legislation or referendum
• Alabama – Bill SB 294 is heading to State Senate for approval in fall 2022.
• Massachusetts – In April State Senate passed SB 2844, but now the lawmakers need to see what the main differences between that and the bill passed last summer by the House are before heading to the governor’s desk.

Illegal Sports Betting in the USA

Not all US states approve sports betting whether it’s online or in person at retail locations. Besides the states with online sports betting and those with physical wagering only, there are twelve states where it is still illegal to place any kind of wagers. Here are the twelve states we were talking about:

• Alaska
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Hawaii
• Kentucky
• Minnesota
• Oklahoma
• Missouri
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont

In some of these states, some bills had been passed, but not approved by everyone. There are also states where sports betting bills weren’t even drafted in the first place because people are against this. We will update this section with any news if any of these states change their minds or if any future attempts at passing bills succeed.

Summary of Legal Sports Betting in the USA

With fifty states come fifty different ways and timetables of legalizing sports betting across the US. Although the striking of the PASPA bill opened the door for each state to decide on its own, there are still some that completely disagree with sports betting of any kind whether online or in person.

More and more states are coming around, and we see that because even those who only legalized retail wagering, are changing their minds and providing online options for the future. We will keep you updated with any sports betting news regarding the different states in the future.