More than 30 states offer legal sports betting or have passed laws to do so. Here’s where some notable states that may still pass bills in 2022, or have already done so, stand currently.
Sports betting bills signed into law
Two states have already signed laws legalizing sports betting:
Kansas
Kansas is the big winner of 2022 sports wagering legalization hopefuls, with Gov. Laura Kelly signing a bill into law and creating a go-live plan by year’s end. The legislative structure will allow most major operators to enter the state. This gives Kansas bettors access to multiple statewide mobile wagering options.
Regulators are now working through follow-up regulations with hopes betting can begin for most of this year’s football season, perennially operators’ most lucrative time. DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, and Barstool are among the sportsbooks that have already announced Kansas launch plans.
Maine
Maine finally legalized sports betting after legislative efforts in two separate sessions fell short. Though the bill isn’t as expansive as many of the legislature’s sports betting backers had initially hoped for, it will give Mainers multiple statewide mobile betting options.
Gov. Janet Mills, who opposed prior efforts for a more broad market, signed a bill that will grant several state gaming tribes exclusive rights to mobile sports betting licenses. As a result, the state’s brick-and-mortar gaming entities can open retail sportsbooks, which are far less lucrative than online options. The tribes will have access to one license apiece, which they may use to partner with a national operator or under a tribal-branded sportsbook.
Maine’s launch date is to be determined like the future sportsbook participants, though regulators have said it won’t likely be in 2022. Still, Maine will become the fourth of six New England states to offer legal sportsbooks and could have more than Connecticut (three licensed books), Rhode Island, and New Hampshire (one apiece).
Sports betting legalization still pending
Several more states will consider sports betting legalization this year, though it could be difficult for any more states to join Kansas and Maine in the class of 2022:
North Carolina
Sports betting proponents in North Carolina hope a long-stalled bill could start gaining momentum in the coming weeks as lawmakers resume their current legislative session. Though the proposal, which would allow up to a dozen statewide mobile licenses, has bipartisan support, it could run into conservative, anti-gambling sentiment from Republicans in the GOP-controlled General Assembly.
Wagering is technically legal in North Carolina, but only at tribal casinos. Currently, the only two open sportsbooks are in the rural, western portion of the state.
Massachusetts
After years of deliberation, the Massachusetts House and Senate passed 2022 mobile sports betting bills. Unfortunately, massive differences between the two measures make legalization significantly more difficult.
Lawmakers are divided over advertising bans, college sports betting, and tax rates, among other issues. Major sportsbook operators and the American Gaming Association have backed the House version, while major Massachusetts universities are supporting the Senate proposal. Legislators have until the end of the year to reach a compromise. Still, with policy divides this significant, an uphill political battle appears for sports betting to pass into law.
California
Ballot measures will decide if Californians can access legal sportsbooks. It remains to be seen how – or even if – they’ll be able to do so.
A coalition of California gaming tribes is backing a retail-only proposal. This would allow in-person sports betting at tribal casinos and several horse tracks. This is running against a FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM-backed measure that would allow major operators to offer statewide mobile betting. Both groups have pledged tens of millions of dollars to their respective campaigns and separate efforts to stop the competing measure.
Both proposals are positioned to land on the 2022 ballot. It’s too early to tell if voters will support one, both, or neither initiative. Still, industry observers expect a contentious and expensive political fight for what would be America’s largest legal sports wagering market.
Sports betting hopes likely over
Minnesota falls into its own category; though its sports betting legalization bill technically hasn’t died, there appears no political path forward ahead of the state’s session adjournment next week. The House and Senate are divided over permitting sportsbook licenses for horse tracks, a move that state gaming tribes have called a political non-starter.
Failed 2022 legalization efforts
Nearly a dozen states introduced or considered some sort of sports betting legalization measure in 2022. However, a pair of especially-promising hopefuls fell short this year.
Missouri
If Kansas is 2022’s most prominent sports betting legalization winner, Missouri is its biggest loser. The Show Me State seemed set to legalize sports wagering along with its western neighbor. Still, a late push to include video lottery gaming terminal legislation with the sports betting bill helped tank both proposals.
The debate surrounding these unregulated gaming machines, which are in hundreds of truck stops and convenience stores and act like slot machines, has sucked out much of the political oxygen around gaming in the legislature for years. With the issues separated ahead of the 2022 session, it seemed lawmakers would finally pass statewide mobile wagering.
Instead, Missouri will go at least another year without any legal betting.
Georgia
Another seemingly safe legalization bet again fell short in 2022. This came after conservative lawmakers killed the bill due to moral opposition to gambling. Though some legal analysts believe sports wagering could begin without a voter ballot measure, lawmakers have pursued legal wagering under the impression it is required, meaning wagering may not begin until 2025 (if not later).
Georgia remains a major target for sportsbook operators with a growing population and multiple high-profile college and professional sports teams. In addition, legislative battles in 2021 and again in 2022 underscore the political difficulties that remain ahead of (likely) future pushes in 2023 and 2024.
