United States Legal Sports Betting Update: April

The United States and gambling have had a contentious relationship for … well, pretty much ever.

But the public has cried out that it’s not fair that we can be fed toxic foods, alcohol, cigarettes and be killed off by the millions each year on the roadways, but for some reason, throwing a couple of bucks on your favorite team to win is ‘bad’ for us.

We’ve woken up to the fact that it’s all about money and petty control. Why should Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City have a monopoly on sports betting? And that’s exactly how the Supreme Court saw it in May of 2018; a monopoly.

They ruled in, MURPHY, GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY, ET AL. v.NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSN. ET AL., that the 10 Amendment of the constitution was being violated by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

Essentially, it ruled that the ‘commandeering clause’ was an illegal power-grab by the federal government and is now, no longer enforceable. That said, this doesn’t mean that gambling is suddenly legal. It just meant that the federal government can no longer go after private enterprise, individuals, or states for sports betting. What it actually does is give power back to each state in the union to decide the sports betting fate of its constituents. Here’s an up-to-date map where you can see the status of each state regarding legal betting.

Latest States to Legalize Sports Betting

The Pacific North West is well on its way to becoming a fully legalized region of the United States. The state of Washington just became the 21st state to sign in a bill legalizing sports betting. In the midst of all of this novel coronavirus madness, Washington Governor, Jay Inslee signed the bill on March 25th. Washington’s bill will keep mobile sports betting restricted to tribal casinos and bettors are not allowed to place any action on Washington collegiate teams.

Montana has also passed a bill that makes sports betting legal in that state. However, they still have not launched their state lottery-run products – even though the bill was signed in back in May of 2019. The way it will work is licensed bars and restaurants will have kiosks where you can place wagers. Patrons will also be able to use the state lottery mobile betting app, but only while on the IP addresses of licensed facilities. So, once you are away from the bar or restaurant, you can’t use the mobile betting app.

Oregon is already fully up and running with their mobile betting through the Oregon Lottery. They grandfathered in, making it the 12th state to legalize sports betting. Oregon residents can also bet live and in person at the Chinook Winds Resort and Casino.

So that just leaves Idaho to round out the PACNW. Unfortunately, Idaho has some deeply engrained anti-gambling written into its state constitution. The earliest we are likely to see real movement in that state is 2022. Hopefully, Idaho will see the light, when Oregon, Washington, and Montana are recording massive profits going into their state-run lottery systems and tribal casinos.

Colorado also recently legalized gambling, but betting has not yet been fully enabled. They are trying to put together a mobile betting platform and the Towns of Black Hawk, Cripple Creek, and Central City will have brick and mortar locations where sports betting is legal. We should see bets taken as early as May of 2020, roughly a year after signing the bill into action.

Tennessee and North Carolina are the other two states that have already signed bills into place but are not quite up and running with sports betting products. Tennessee is an interesting case because it will be the only to offer online-only. The state is still struggling with drafting the rules and regulations so we are still unsure as to how this will all play out. Conversely, North Carolina’s bill does not permit mobile wagering. They have, however, worked out arrangements with the Cherokee tribe to offer sports betting at two casinos, one a few hours from Charlotte, the other a few from Raleigh.

There you have it. The latest updates on legal sports betting in the United States of America.