States Warming Up Online Sports Betting Outlets for Football Season
When the Supreme Court removed the federal ban on sports betting a little over a year ago, there were already plenty of states on the sidelines, ready for their big moment. One, of course, was New Jersey, who led the lawsuit against the prohibition and last month outpaced even Nevada when it came the amount wagered in-state.
Others, like Indiana, West Virginia, and Iowa, are gearing up for the most heavily gambled time of the year -- football season -- by rolling out online sports betting apps. So, if you're one of the lucky ones who doesn't need to travel to Las Vegas to play a pigskin parlay, here's how you do it.
The Good
There are already 13 sports betting apps on the market in New Jersey, and we're still three weeks from NFL games that matter. DraftKings and FanDuel also have their own Sportsbook apps for Garden State gamblers as well as those in neighboring Pennsylvania.
Iowa's online sports betting is live as of this week. However, you must first sign up for a mobile sports betting account in person at a sportsbook in one of eight in-state casinos.
The Bad
Sorry, Mississippians, you must be on-site at a casino to place your sports bets. Same for those of you in Delaware. And while West Virginia legalized sports betting and rolled out an app last year, a dispute between technology providers has been shut down as of now. Hopefully they figure it out by September.
The Upcoming
Indiana just legalized sports betting this May, and is targeting September 1 to go live. Most are guessing sports bets will need to be made in person at retail sportsbooks in Indiana casinos. And Rhode Island, after signing their betting bill into law in March, is also hoping that online betting will go live this fall, but there's no set date as of this writing.
Illinois sports betting will begin in 2020. Tennessee already legalized it, and Oregon plans to, but neither have live sportsbooks yet, in person or online.
Related Resources:
- Online Sports Betting Sites in the United States (Legal Sports Report)
- Will 2019 Be the Year of the Sportsbook? (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)
- Update on State Sports Betting Laws (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)
- State Gambling Laws (FindLaw's Learn About the Law)