Since states in the United States were granted the ability to fully legalize sports betting three years ago, the sector has grown exponentially. The Supreme Court’s ruling in 2018 finally ended years of intense debate prompted by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a rule implemented in 1992 that effectively prohibited sports betting in the majority of states in the United States.
In the years afterward, the practice has been legalized in only a few states, including Nevada, which is home to the world’s gambling center, Las Vegas. Everything has fully altered into a different appearance after only a few years.
Over the first two years following the legalization of sports betting in several states, bets totaling more than $20 billion were placed with online sportsbooks in the United States. It has only grown since then – in October 2020, it was reported that Americans legally gambled an estimated $3 billion on sports for the first time in a single month. This was the first time that sports betting was permitted in the United States.
As a result, revenue from betting on sporting events climbed by $53.5 percent year on year, reaching a total of $237.5 million. This achievement is even more impressive when one considers the reduced amount of games played this season.
In actuality, many records were broken in the latter half of the year 2020. During December, bets totaling $996.3 million were placed in New Jersey, allowing the state to break the national record for the fifth month in a row. Furthermore, five other states (Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota) made more money from gambling during that month than they did during the same period in 2019. (comparable month). This is a staggering increase in the number of clients who have chosen to place wagers at an online sportsbook over the previous year.
The procedure by which separate states legalize the use of online gambling sites
Of course, sports betting will not be legal in every state by 2021, but as of today, twenty states have already approved laws to make it legal, and six more have presented legislation that has the potential to make it legal shortly. Even in places where measures have been adopted, legislation differs, with online gambling not being permitted in every jurisdiction.
Only land-based sportsbooks are permitted to operate in Arkansas, Delaware, New Mexico, and New York. However, preliminary signs suggest that states are moving toward allowing online betting as well. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signaled an interest in legalizing internet gambling because he sees it as a potential new source of revenue for the state.
Mississippi and Montana are two states that have passed laws to allow “in-person online” betting, which allows for the use of internet sportsbooks as long as the bettor is physically present within a casino. There is now only one legal app available in Montana, and its feature precludes players from using it when they are not on casino grounds.
Furthermore, residents in four states are only able to choose one sort of online wager. There has been an increase in the number of new retail sportsbooks opening their doors in each of these states—Washington, the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, and Oregon. This is due in part to the restricted selection provided by the new mobile betting apps on the market. Only eleven states, including Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, do not limit the number of internet betting providers that can lawfully operate within their boundaries. It should come as no surprise that several of these states are among the most robust markets in the industry, with estimated revenue in the billions of dollars in 2020.
What will happen in the future?
Five additional states may begin accepting wagers in 2021. Voters in 55 of Louisiana’s 64 state parishes backed legalizing sports betting in 2020, but no additional legislation has been announced to determine if this would only apply to retail sportsbooks or whether online betting will be legalized as well. In either case, it has undeniable public support, particularly in prospective key markets such as New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette.
Similar to Maryland, which voted in favor of legalizing gambling in the 2020 election, and with support from both political parties for both traditional and online sports betting, it is highly likely that both forms of wagering will be legalized in any upcoming legislation. The state of South Dakota has also voted in favor of the measure, but it is unclear whether this will only apply to betting in retail establishments.
Furthermore, the states of North Carolina and Washington have authorized sports betting, though they have not yet begun accepting wagers. In the first scenario, legislation was enacted in 2019, but the two casinos for which the legislation was written have yet to open for business. It is expected that the authorities will look into permitting mobile betting this year.
Experts anticipate that the wheels of legalization may begin to turn in both Florida and Texas by the end of 2021, with Lone Star State’s abysmal budget situation cited as a major explanation for the potential delay. Furthermore, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Vermont are still considering whether or not to enact a specific piece of legislation. So far, just one bill has been vetoed by a governor in the state of Maine.
As a result of the expanding number of sporting associations that have joined with online sportsbooks, it appears that the industry is poised for more states to implement rules soon. All analysts agree that the market will show unmistakable signs of major growth by 2025; but, if the states mentioned above begin enacting laws, the most important adjustments might occur by the end of next year.