Are you interested in online sports betting and also from the USA? Then this is the perfect place for you to find out the best legal online sports betting options out there. There are so many platforms out there where you can place a legal bet on sports, but knowing which ones are legal in which state could be a hassle to remember. Here, you can read all about the states’ legal status and options available to you. You can also find reviews, the latest news, and other information regarding online sports betting.
Latest Online Sports Betting Updates
Let's check out the latest online sports betting news and updates in the community. Here you can always be sure that you can read about the most recent events in legal US sports betting.
New York Sports Betting Live – First Look at Sportsbooks Available
Date: 01/08/2022
The official news about the legal online sports betting situation in New York is that it has come sooner than some anticipated. The New York State Gaming Commission allowed four sportsbooks to go live on Saturday, the 8th of January. There isn't any information as of yet regarding specific welcome offers, but if these sportsbooks’ offers in other US states are similar, we can expect some free site credits and free wagers. The first available sportsbooks in the Empire State will be:
- Caesars Sportsbook
- DraftKings Sportsbook
- BetRivers Sportsbook
- FanDuel Sportsbook
Although Sen. Joseph Addabbo expressed his wishes for all online sportsbooks to go live at the same time in NY, the gaming commission didn't think that way. The other five sportsbooks that would be legalized in the state are still only speculations. Once we have more information, we will be sure to notify you of the latest online sports betting news.
Mobile Sports Betting Might be Coming to Arkansas Soon
Date: 12/29/2021
Arkansas still hasn't approved legal mobile wagering although sports betting itself is legal and active since 2019 when they accepted the first bet in the state. The Arkansas Racing Commission already approved changes in the laws, and now they need to be approved by the AR Legislative Council. Their meeting regarding the subject is set for January 28th and by then we should know if mobile wagering would be available in the first quarter of 2022. Although the news is soon to hit us, the specific rule changes will be sculpted in later months as said by a spokesman of the commission Scott Hardin.
Right now, the state has already taken about $1.7 million in tax revenue and that number would only grow once mobile wagering is available. We will be sure to notify you of the latest news regarding mobile sports betting in the Land of Opportunity, as it comes along.
Where is Online Sports Betting Legal in the USA?
Many US residents have been asking the same question – Is online sports betting legal in their state? Here, you will receive the latest information about the subject also specific news about each state where sports betting is legal and some history of the past events in the state regarding sports betting.
New Jersey
New Jersey was the first state to push for legal sports betting and in 2018 they got their wish after a decade of fighting for it. It has the largest online sports betting market in the country and many sportsbooks started there. The Garden State even surpassed Nevada when it comes to accepting online sports bets and the handle in the state was $1 billion for three months in a row in November last year.
There are currently twelve retail books in the state and more than a dozen online/mobile sportsbooks available. As the betting opportunities in other states, especially now in New York, flourish in 2022, we will see if New Jersey will keep the title having the largest online sports betting community.
Indiana
Indiana's first legal sports betting launch was in September 2019 with the first retail sportsbooks. A month later the online sportsbooks followed and as of right now, only two of the thirteen casinos in the state have no sports betting. 2021 was a whirlwind for legal online betting in Indiana and four new sportsbooks gained licenses via the Indiana Gaming Commission. They are Barstool Sportsbook, WynnBet, Betway, and Bally Bet. Each month the sports betting handle is increasing, and like in New Jersey the industry is growing at a rapid rate.
Colorado
Colorado has an abundance of casinos with more than thirty retail casinos where mobile wagering can be launched in the state. To this day, Colorado has the most sportsbook brands operating in any other state. They currently have more than twenty-four active mobile sportsbooks and that number is growing fast with names, like Sports Illustrated Sportsbook popping up as the newest options.
Since sports betting was legalized in the state in May 2020, we have seen a lot of apps appear with various casino partners. Only in 2021, nine new sports betting apps went live and we are expecting more to launch this year, as well.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is one of the biggest states where sports betting is legal and one of the few where you can also legally play games at online casinos. The state has a tax rate of 36% and everyone that applies for a license is required to pay a one-time fee of $10 million. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved ten apps for both Android and iOS devices. Like other states in the USA, their record handle in November was passed and they are continuing to grow.
Arizona
2021 was the lucky year for Arizona residents because in September sports betting was legalized and the first sportsbooks went live. A month earlier daily fantasy sports also went live in the state and as of right now, there are eleven different sportsbook options in the state. The law only allows ten sportsbook licenses for tribal casinos and ten for professional sports teams and venues. Since the licenses are few not all of the tribal casinos received one and the sports betting market in the state is set to be pretty competitive.
The newest sportsbooks to launch in the state are Fubo Sportsbook and the soon-to-be SaharaBets platform. It is vital to understand that sports teams don't directly operate sports betting platforms. They could partner with an operator that offers sports betting.
West Virginia
West Virginia is one of the states where not only online betting is available but retail sportsbooks, too. They have been one of the few states to openly support New Jersey in their endeavor to legalize sports betting outside of Nevada, and they were rewarded for it. They have had three years of legal sports betting experience and the newest sportsbooks to be approved in the state were Caesars and PointsBet. There are also six sports betting apps you can choose from in the state as of January 2022.
Tennessee
Tennessee is one of the few states in the country where sports betting is only available online. While the sports betting bill was approved in 2019, the launch for TN was in the fall of 2020. There are currently eight sportsbook apps you can choose from and we are sure that others will launch shortly. The tax in the state is 20% and one of the highest in the country and there is also a requirement to hold at least 10% of all wagers, which we haven't seen in many other states. The newest additions in TN are Barstool Sportsbook, Action 24/7 (locally based book), and TwinSpires.
Virginia
Virginia arrived a little late to the party in January 2021, but for a year in the industry, they can boast about having ten sportsbook apps and another six planning on joining over the next months. There are no physical casinos in the state and this Virginia is one of the few states with online-only sports betting availability. The law that approved this also allowed the construction of five physical casinos in the state, only four have already been decided through referendums in 2020. Richmond was supposed to be the fifth city, but the voters decided not to allow it as of yet. For the foreseeable future, there will be only four casino locations in the state.
Illinois
Illinois has approved online sports betting and there are in-person sportsbooks and six different mobile apps to go with them. The end of in-person registration is also shortly for Colorado customers – March 5th, 2022. The same bill that allowed this also gives us a chance to place pre-game and in-person bets on colleges in the state. It is interesting that while it is legal to place bets on colleges, we still haven't seen even one operator requesting these types of wagers. Also, recently a ban was lifted which forbid sportsbook at any stadiums, so we will see some development in this area, as well shortly.
Iowa
There are both online and retail sportsbooks available in Iowa since 2019. There was a requirement to register in-person, but that passed at the start of 2021 and now registrations are available remotely, as well. After this requirement ended the revenue from sports betting increased almost immediately and with the more than fifteen sportsbook apps available in the state there will be a steady flow in the future. The most recent development is that Iowa customers can now place different bets on college events except prop bets on any individual. After the in-person registration requirement was lifted a total of four new betting apps appeared in the state and more are probably going to be approved by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.
Connecticut
Connecticut launched its sports betting market in October 2021 after the tribes in Connecticut made an agreement with the government for exclusivity alongside the CT lottery. Currently, there are three online sportsbooks available in the state – PlaySugarHouse, DraftKings, and FanDuel. We don't know if the upcoming launch in New York will affect sports betting in Connecticut since they are neighboring states, but it shouldn't affect the customers that much.
Michigan
Michigan launched sports betting in January 2021 and it was the largest of its kind in the country. Ten sportsbooks launched on the same day with online casinos to accompany them. The newest law was passed in December last year and it allowed customers to deduct wagering losses from their state tax returns. They reached their sports betting handle record in November with more than half a billion in bets. Right now, only Fox Bet and BetMGM provide online poker, as well as casinos in the state, but that could change in the future.
Wyoming
Sports betting in the Cowboy state launched in September 2021 with BetMGM and DraftKings being the first sportsbooks available. Almost two months later FanDuel was approved but they still haven't launched. Barstool Sportsbook and PointsBet are also interested in venturing into Wyoming, but no official license has been approved yet. We should find out in the first quarter of the year, if more sportsbooks would be available or if DK and BetMGM will keep their advantage.
New York
While in-person sports betting became available in New York back in 2019, online betting was still not a sure thing even last year. The launch of online sports betting was scheduled for January 8th and nine operators will be launching mobile apps in the early 2022 period. The regulators announced that four of the approved nine operators would be able to launch on the first or second day. We will expect the rest of them to launch shortly.
Mississippi
Mississippi launched retail sports betting back in 2018 and they have been waiting ever since to legalize mobile wagering, too. Although mobile wagering on Casino grounds is currently legal in the state, Rep. Cedric Burnett filed a bill that would allow any casino to launch a mobile sportsbook in the state. It is reported that Rep. Casey Eure also has a wagering bill in mind and we still don't know which one would be accepted and when that will happen. Many people are hoping that 2022 is the year mobile wagering grows past the casino grounds in the Magnolia State.
Nevada
For a long time, Nevada was the only state you could place sports bets in since their legalization of sports betting back in 1949. Right now, there are eight sportsbook apps in Nevada and five of them offer in-play wagering, as well. Some of the more popular brands in the state are Wynn, BetMGM, Boyd Gaming, and Caesars.
New Hampshire
In New Hampshire, online betting was legalized in July 2019 but the bill itself was passed earlier in the year. Reports state that after DraftKings was approved to offer both retail and online products in the state that they would most likely be the only operator to do so soon. DraftKings' monopoly in the state isn't certain, but they did offer a higher revenue percentage if they are the only online operator available. If another operator opens doors in the state, DK's offer will drop by thirty percent and even more if the state allows four or more operators. At least for now, DraftKings is enjoying being the only available option in New Hampshire, but we will see how long that will last.
Oregon
Oregon launched sports betting in the state in 2019, but it is limited to a single sport betting app – The Scoreboard app, which is controlled by the state lottery. Also, the state doesn't allow betting on college sports.
Rhode Island
The sports betting launch for the state was in 2019 and they also added fully mobile wagering in 2020. After you download any apps, you will have to visit an in-person location to verify your identity though. The sports betting market in Rhode Island is solely controlled by the state lottery right now and there are no indications that will change soon.
Which States are Considering Legalizing Online Sports Betting?
Although the PASPA deal went through, not all US states have taken the opportunity to legalize sports betting. Here, you can read more about each state that is soon going to launch or is considering launching online or retail sports betting soon.
There are currently twenty-two US states where sports betting isn't even legal yet, so the potential betting markets out there are large and there is a lot of opportunities for bookmakers to succeed even if they aren't as big as DraftKings or BetMGM, for example. In three other states, the status of legal sports betting is pending – District of Columbia, Washington, and North Carolina.
Ohio
Bill HB 29 was passed and signed shortly after by Gov. Mike DeWine, which predicts that legal sports betting would launch in Ohio by this time next year. The Ohio Casino Control Commission has to draft the regulations, which will then have to be approved, so there isn't a chance to see legal betting in the state this year, but we are optimistic that 2023 is the year Ohio customers would finally be able to place their first wagers.
Back in 2020 legal sports betting was close to achievement, and again in 2021, but none of the attempts resulted in anything substantial. The state could hit revenue of nearly one billion dollars in the first months of the launch and it could have up to twenty retail and twenty mobile licenses available.
Massachusetts
Now that Sen. Eric Lesser is a candidate for the governor's position, legal sports betting could happen as it would be one of the targets he will try to hit during his run. Although there aren't many land-based properties in the state talks of legalizing sports betting have been more frequent lately. Four of Massachusetts’ five neighboring states have already legalized online sports betting except for Vermont. But that doesn't seem to provoke the lawmakers to faster resolve sports betting in the state.
California
Is online sports betting legal in California? Well, right now it isn't. We don't even expect it to join other states in the endeavor soon. California is one of those places where legal sports betting could provide massive revenues to the state and has the potential to become the next New Jersey or Colorado. There is a possibility for a retail-only option for the first few years if legislation pass, but online sports wagering is still receiving negative pressure from tribal casinos. There are more than eighty retail casinos in the state and if a sports betting bill passes the revenue, the potential sportsbook market in the state could grow a lot in its first phase.
Louisiana
Online sports betting in Louisiana is close because right now retail wagering is live in the state. The Louisiana Lottery is expected to release its sports betting product shortly and the Louisiana Gaming Control Board already approved eight retail sports betting licenses in the state. Several sportsbooks offer pre-launch offers to customers, but we don't expect to see it in January 2022. Three popular sportsbooks are already offering pre-launch offers to customers, so it won't be long now.
Best Online Sports Betting Sites Out There
Let's go over the best legal sportsbooks in the USA right now and what they have to offer customers. Keep in mind that these are only the best online sports betting sites, while we will talk about the apps later.
Bet365 in the USA – Legal and Available in Some States
Although Bet365 is one of the few sportsbooks to only operate in New Jersey. Although they are technically legal in two other states – New York and Colorado, they only launched in NJ, for now. They are one of the largest betting platforms in the world and their entry into the USA sports betting market was late in our opinion. They have a wonderful open account offer for new customers and we expect them to soon launch elsewhere, too.
BetMGM Sportsbook – Where is it Available?
BetMGM is one of the biggest names in sports betting in the country. Whether it is for online or offline betting you can find BetMGM in many places. They are currently available in fourteen states – Colorado, Arizona, Iowa, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Wyoming, Virginia, Washington DC, Tennessee, Michigan, and Mississippi. Their latest welcome offer provides new customers with the chance to receive a $1,000 risk-free wager if they complete the full terms and conditions.
Caesars Sportsbook & Welcome Offer Details
Caesars Sportsbook is only available right now in Arizona, Tennessee, Illinois, West Virginia, Indiana, Iowa, Virginia, Michigan, Colorado, Nevada, New Jersey, and Washington DC. Their new customers can get a free bet match up to $1,001 if they register now. The brand is quite popular in the USA and we expect them to launch in other states shortly.
DraftKings Providing Legal Sports Betting Across Most States
DraftKings is legal and licensed in seventeen different states. Three of them only provide retail sports betting right now – Louisiana's Golden Nugget Lake Charles, Mississippi's Scarlet Pearl, and New York. Although, in the coming days New York would be on the other list where online betting is available via DK, as well.
You can receive a sign-up bonus of up to $1,050 if you register to the sportsbook in one of the retail locations or online in the states where online/mobile wagering is available. Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Tennesse, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New Hampshire are also states where you can bet with DK online. There are ten states where DraftKings doesn't offer sports betting, but it is legal and available.
BetRivers Sportsbook Legal History & Offers
BetRivers is also a large rand in the USA and they are available in less than a dozen states. Right now, you can register from Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, Virginia, Michigan, West Virginia, Iowa, and Arizona. Their welcome offer isn't as big as other bookmakers with a 100% deposit match up to $250 offer, but we think they might update it soon as plans to expand to other states would create more competition.
Best Online Sports Betting App
Here, you can read more about the best online sports betting app in the USA and other options in various states.
FanDuel Mobile App
FanDuel is right alongside DraftKings on the top of the best sportsbook apps list with their Android and iOS free mobile application. It is available in twelve different US states and it offers plenty of betting options. Most people praise it for its modern design and the fact that it's easy to navigate. Also, it offers one of the best same-game parlay features in the country. The app can also be praised for the fastest cashouts out there, at least the ones we have had the pleasure of seeing for ourselves.
DraftKings Mobile App
Many people consider DraftKings to have the best online sports betting app out there. Mostly that is because the operator provides their mobile app across most states. It is available for iOS and Android devices, and it's free of charge. DraftKings became the first legal sports betting app outside of Nevada and they are trying to spread their wings in other states as they legalize betting on sports whether it's online or in-person. The mobile apps are available in fifteen states currently and all use the same user-friendly interface.
BetMGM Mobile App
BetMGM has only improved in recent months and their app is also one of the best out there. Since the interface isn't cluttered you can find what you are looking for quite easily. They also offer great bonuses for their new and existing customers. The app itself is available for both Android and iOS devices. Also, we heard that they are planning on launching (soon) in even more states than the ones they are live in now. Although it occasionally freezes, it is still one of the best apps out there when it comes to sports betting.
Caesars Mobile App
Caesars Sportsbook provides mobile apps in fourteen different states and they are one of the most well-known and luxury brands in the states. They provide a clean interface and many betting options. Their acquisition of the William Hill brand allowed them to spread in many more states that they didn't have jurisdiction at beforehand. Only in Nevada, William Hill gets to keep their brand name. They are one of the best when it comes to retail sports betting but they aren't doing a bad job at online wagering, as well.
PointsBet Mobile App
PointsBet has become the official partner of NBC Sports and they offer a fun way of wagering, which is different than regular sports betting. It is currently licensed in seven US states, including New Jersey, West Virginia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, and Michigan. Their welcome bonus is the best out there with a free bet offer of up to $2,000. They are available via iOS and Android and have a few interesting features to offer customers, including the so-called “points betting.”
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Online Sports Betting
Is online betting legal in all US states?
No, it isn't You can place legal sports bets in only some of the states, for now.
Do sites offer online poker and casinos, as well?
Only some platforms offer both online poker and casino services, like BetMGM in New Jersey.
What are the available payment options in the USA?
Each sportsbook offers various options for customers when it comes to deposits and withdrawals. The most popular ones are credit/debit card payments, bank transfers, e-wallets, prepaid cards, and retail payments at casinos.
Are online sportsbooks secure?
A sportsbook that is licensed by the organization that oversees all sports betting in each state should provide customers with plenty of safety measures online. As long as the sportsbook you are using is legal and licensed in your state your information and finances should be safe.
Can I create an account in multiple sportsbooks?
Yes, you can. The only exception is if you are self-excluded, which is a feature that doesn’t let you create any new accounts or access old ones for a specific period.
Do I have to verify my identity to place bets online?
Yes, you do. Without verification, you won't be able to use the platform you want to place bets on or even deposit funds into your account let alone withdraw funds.
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- This review of Bet365 mentioned here is based on the writer's personal experience of the Bet365 platform.
- Disclaimer: Always refer to the Bet365 platforms for the latest updates and information. The above information is subject to change, please refer to Bet365 online platforms for the latest updates.