Entering March of 2023, 36 of 50 states as well as Washington DC has legalized sports betting, in 2023 more states may join those 36 states and DC. All of the states that have legalized sports betting have done so since 2018 when the Supreme Court for the first time gave power to indiviudal states to decide their own futures on sports gambling after it was only legal in Nevada.
Since then sports betting has come a long ways across the United States. Once sports betting became legal on a federal level, 14 states within one year legalized it in their state starting with Delaware. Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia all joined shortly after.
Over the course of the next four years, 26 more states would slowly but surely join leaving Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Vermont as states that have yet to legalized sports betting.
One of the most recent states to legalize sports betting was Kansas. After years of work, the state legalized sports betting in May of 2022 before launching their sportsbooks two months later. Kansas bettors can sign up with new promo codes at Caesars Sportsbook. With March Madness, the the 2023 MLB season as well as the NBA and NHL playoffs all on the horizon, there is not many better times over the course of the calender year to get started.
Since the legalization federally, sports betting has become more and more popular in the United States, in 2022, sports betting across the country saw over nearly $82 billion gambled. In Kansas, revenue climbed monthly including the state bringing in over $10 million in it’s first few months of taking wagers.
In most states, this individual state revenue is used in a positive manner for the sate as well. Most states use the money for public funding projects at various levels including programs and projects for the elderly and those living in poverty among other uses.
What may sports betting hold in 2023?
A few states in 2023 could see movement to legalize sports betting. Those states are Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. All these states have either proposed sports betting legislation or have passed sports betting legislation but has yet to announce any launch date for sports betting within their respective states.
Currently both Minnesota and Oklahoma have passed lesligation that would legalize sports betting. Georgia has had legislation proposed int he past as has Kentucky, North Dakota, and South Carolina.
Other states like Alabama, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Utah, and Vermont seem unlikely to pass sports betting any time soon or potentially ever.
Alaska is an intriguing case in it’s own right as prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, appeared possible that it would be legalized in the state, however, due to COVID-19, it never had the opportunity to be passed.
Overall, sports betting in the United States has come a long way in just a short period of time. Not too long ago, few had the ability to gamble on sports on a daily basis, now, a majority of the country has the ability to do so both in brick and mortar casinos but also mobilaly using their phones.
Over the next few years, sports betting will continue to evolionize and more states will surely join the 36 plus Washington DC that have already passed legislation. Additionally, with the major sports leagues eac and every year becoming a bigger proponent and advocate for sports betting, the popularity of it will only continue to grow and the chance of those states that have yet to legalize it will also continue to grow.
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash
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