Where in the United States Can You Place Legal and Local Online Bets?

The United States of America is becoming more welcoming when it comes to sports betting. More and more states are now mobbing towards the legalization of local sports betting operations. Currently, there are now 20 states that have signed betting into law.

The fact that each state can now decide whether it would like to legalize and regulate sports betting into law is thanks to the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. This happened in May 2018 and since then, the majority of the states in the US are already moving towards legalizing betting.

States that have already launched local betting include New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware, Oregon, New York, and Iowa. Meanwhile, states that have already signed betting into law but are still preparing for its launch are Michigan, Illinois, and Colorado. Many people in these states are hoping that NFL betting sites will already be up before or during the NFL season. Meanwhile, Utah and a few more states remain unmoved about its legislation.

Now, the laws that regulate local sports betting in each state varies. There are states that already allow both in-person and online betting. However, there are also states that only allowed in-person betting like the state of New York.

It was in July of last year when New York launched betting locally through its licensed casinos located upstate. Many were happy about this progress that New York made. However, based on reports, the industry appears to be struggling in this state.

What’s really to blame for is the lack of online wagering in the state. Senator Joseph Addabbo who sponsored the betting bill in New York did include mobile or online wagering in his proposal before betting was signed into New York’s law. However, it didn’t come up during the House discussion.

Now, New York punters, including Addabbo himself are still hopeful that online betting will be available locally this year. However, it’s still unpredictable at the moment. New York Governor Cuomo seems to not really care about this yet based on his recent budget reading.

It does appear that online betting is still unlikely to happen in the state of New York this year. This just really means that this state will be missing out on tax revenues that online betting could give. Neighboring states that have already legalized betting are really the ones that are benefiting from New York’s lack of online wagering. Particularly, it is New Jersey that is getting the wagers from New Yorkers.

Other states already have included the legislation of online betting when they signed betting into law. Some of these states are New Jersey, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Tennessee. In fact, in Tennessee, only online betting is legal in the state. However, this hasn’t launched yet but it’s already expected that websites will go live this year.

Michigan is the latest addition to the list of states that have already allowed wagering. This was signed into law in December of 2019 and in-person betting is expected to be launched the spring this year. Online betting is also legal in this state. However, it may take until next year before websites go live.

The spokesperson of Michigan’s Gaming Control Board, Mary Kay Bean, explained that the legislation of betting is just really the start of the process. In-person betting will be much quicker to start as existing casinos will only need to apply for licenses.

However, when it comes to online wagering in the state, it is likely that the locals will have to wait until next year. According to Bean, it will take that long to finalize the rules and regulations that online operators will have to live by.

Meanwhile, in states like Mississippi, online or mobile wagering is only allowed if the punter is within a casino property. This means that online access is only available when you’re in the vicinity. It is similar to how things are in Nevada.

Nevada didn’t really change much after the PASPA was stricken down as this Act never really affected betting in this state. Online and mobile sports betting platform has been available in this state for a while now.

However, bettors will have to register and create an account in-person at a land casino or bookie. After that, they can then access the casino’s online site or app to place their bets. This is as long as they are within Nevada when they place their bets.

Other states where it’s completely legal to place online bets are in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa, West Virginia, Rhode Island, and Oregon. Meanwhile, in the state of Delaware, only in-person betting is also legal, but it’s likely that online platforms will be available soon.