Sports betting used to be confined to Las Vegas, but those days are long gone.
Vegas is still a destination for in-person sports wagering and limited online, but legal sports betting in the United States has exploded in the past five years. More than 30 states offer in-person sports betting, and many of those now offer online betting through mobile apps and websites.
Kansas was the most recent state to launch online sports betting when it rolled out September 1, 2022, just in the nick of time for football bettors. But with legislation either approved or being considered in several other states, The Jayhawk State won’t be the last for long. Will your state be next?
Where Is Sports Betting Legal in the US?
You used to have to hop on a flight to the middle of the desert to put together your 15 game parlays, but other state governments opened the practice in the early 2010s as a new revenue stream to combat budget deficits.
States with Retail and Online Sports Betting
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Nevada
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Washington D.C.
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
States with Retail Only
- Arkansas
- Delaware
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Washington
What States Are Next to Go Live with Online Sports Betting?
States have found legalized sports betting as a revenue boom, and more states are expected to roll out sports gambling infrastructure in 2022. Here is a list of new states expected to do so in 2022:
Maine
Maine governor Janet Mills finally signed a legal online and in-person sports betting bill into law in May 2022 that will go into effect July 31. The state is hopeful to have retail and online sports betting in place for football season, but either late 2022 or early 2023 are a more realistic timeline for a rollout.
Maryland
Maryland enacted in-person sports gambling in December 2021, with Governor Larry Hogan placing the first wager — a futures bet that the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Football Team would meet in the Super Bowl — at the MGM National Harbor on December 9.
Maryland has released eight sportsbook licenses in the state, as of December 2021, but hasn’t released any details about online sports gambling — despite the fact online sports wagers were passed as part of the legislation — though it reportedly hopes to roll out online wagering in time for the 2022 NFL season.
Ohio
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed legalized sports gambling into law in December 2021, and the state will reportedly have in-person sportsbooks available for prospective bettors by January 1, 2023, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The state will offer licenses to enable sportsbooks, teams or other gambling houses the option to enable mobile bettors. However the price tag is $2.5 million per license, according to the Enquirer, and online sports betting is unlikely to be rolled out in the Buckeye State until at least 2023.
Arkansas
Arkansas has allowed in-person sports betting at a handful of casinos since 2019, and the Arkansas Racing Commission, which oversees gaming, reportedly passed online sports gambling in late December 2021 with the hopes of rolling out the practice in February 2022.
The topic will move to the Arkansas legislature, where there is reportedly some resistance, but will likely pass.
What is Going on With Florida Online Sports betting?
Florida sports betting has been legalized, but true to its reputation, The Sunshine State’s rollout has been something of a mess.
Florida passed online sports gambling in 2021 and agreed to a $2.5 billion compact to give the Hard Rock Seminole exclusive rights to the market. However, a federal judge threw out the agreement deeming it violated the Indian gaming laws.
The Sunshine State enacted a referendum for voters to place the initiative on the 2022 voting ballot, with the state needing more than 890,000 votes by February 1, 2022, for it to get to the ballot. However, as of early January, it had mustered just 284,000-or-so votes, likely dooming sports gambling in the state for at least the 2022 calendar year.
Online Sports Betting Hopefuls for 2022
With the 2021 legislative session come and gone, all eyes will be on legislative sessions over the next 12 months to see which will be the next states to move the ball on online gambling.
Here is a list of places where new sports gambling initiatives are likely to be voted on in 2022.
- Alabama
- California
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Massachusetts
- Missouri
- Vermont
Considering the US sports betting landscape of a decade ago, legalized wagering, both in-person and online, have come a long way. It’s only a matter of time before every state — yes, even Utah — offers in-person and online sports betting.
