Last Updated May 13, 2022, 10:21 AM ET
Legalized online sports betting became a reality in May 2018. The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled in a 6-3 decision that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional. Fast forward to today, and 30 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, have implemented legalized online sports betting in some capacity.
Legal Super Bowl betting reached record-setting heights this year too. More than 80.1 million geolocation transactions (GeoComply) were recorded over the weekend — double the figures from 2021.
Legal dominoes continue to fall, including in California, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Maine, where new legislative pushes seek to install legal online sports betting.
Despite the prevalence of offshore entities, we are focused on reporting about legal government-regulated markets. Keep an eye on this space for in-depth coverage and consult our interactive U.S. legalization tracker map for regular updates.
PASPA effectively limited U.S. sports betting to Nevada, although Delaware, Montana, and Oregon carried a legacy clause. PASPA forbade states – outside of those exemptions above – from regulating and taxing sports betting.
New Jersey led the charge to legalize sports betting. SCOTUS recognized its decade-long crusade against the major professional sports leagues and ruled to overturn the longstanding act. The ruling by SCOTUS put an end to PASPA and gave each state the ability to enforce and implement its own legal sports betting standards and regulations.
Click the quick reference links to find out where sports betting is legal, states moving toward legalization, and those unlikely to act.
States with legal sports betting in 2022:
AR | AZ | CO | CT | DE | DC | IL | IN | IA | LA | ME | MI | MS | MT | NV | NH | NJ | NM | NY | NC | OR | PA | RI | SD | TN | VA | WA | WV | WI | WY
States moving towards legalizing sports betting in 2022:
States unlikely to legalize sports betting in 2022: