• Washington State Legalized Sports Gambling
• States That Legalized Sports Gambling Articles
• States That Will Legalize Sports Gambling
• States That Legalized Sports Gambling Legislation

While the U.S. presidential election process had not yet produced a clear winner by Wednesday morning, it was a night of decisive victories for the tide of legal sports betting.

South Dakota is known for its scenery, but perhaps there’s a chance it can also be known as a state that legalized sports betting in 2020. Chance of sports betting legalization: MEDIUM.Election results: With 95% of the votes counted, sports betting legalization within the city limits of Deadwood has a commanding lead (58.5–41.5). Legal sports betting is officially live in both Illinois and Michigan, as the states launched in-person operations on a week before March Madness. We've seen movement on sports betting bills in Missouri, Kansas and South Dakota. States have shown that they can generate a lot of revenue and safely manage sports betting. But lessons can be learned about where the line should be drawn to avoid overtaxing bettors and the gambling industry. More states should continue to legalize and expand sports betting. The following states have legalized sports betting, or legislation has been introduced. Keep in mind that some states have laws on the books legalizing sports betting in the event that the federal. Voters said yes to legalizing sports betting in all three states where the question was on the ballot: Louisiana, Maryland, and South Dakota (for the casino-friendly city of Deadwood).

Voters said yes to legalizing sports betting in all three states where the question was on the ballot: Louisiana, Maryland, and South Dakota (for the casino-friendly city of Deadwood). In Maryland, 66% of voters approved, and in South Dakota, 59% of voters approved. In Louisiana, where the vote was handled by parish, 55 of 64 parishes approved, including key cities like Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

That brings the grand total to 26 states (plus Washington, D.C.) that have either launched legal sports betting or passed the legislation and are waiting to launch. (Colorado, Nebraska, and Virginia voters also said yes to expanding casino gaming in their states.)

But the newest three states don’t just flip a switch now and turn on the gambling faucet. Lawmakers have to pass companion legislation to determine specific details like tax rates. In all three states, it will likely take until 2021 to fully pass and launch sports betting. (Legalizing mobile sports betting must happen separately; only a handful of the states that have legalized in-person sports betting have also legalized mobile sports betting.)

DraftKings and FanDuel, the fantasy sports companies now rapidly launching legal sportsbooks across the country, spent heavily on TV and radio advertising in the weeks leading up to Election Day in states where sports betting was on the ballot. In Louisiana, each company spent more than $250,000.

Since 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting, gaming companies have been in an arms race to launch sportsbooks in states that have legalized.

And in the past year, a second arms race has unfolded: a battle to rack up betting sponsorships directly with pro sports franchises.

DraftKings has announced sports betting partnerships with the New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL, and with the MLB’s Chicago Cubs. (DraftKings went public in April by merging with an already-public SPAC; its shares are up 110% since.) FanDuel has signed betting partnerships with the Denver Broncos and with the Memphis Grizzlies, the company’s first NBA team betting deal. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans signed a betting deal with BetMGM.

“We’re seeing record engagement levels,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said on Yahoo Finance in the first week of the 2020 NFL season. “It’s not just because we’ve entered new states—even in the existing states we were in at the start of last NFL season, like New Jersey and West Virginia, we’ve seen enormous year-over-year growth in those markets as well.”

As the tide of legalization continues, expect the frenzied race to sign team betting deals to accelerate. And that trend is sure to change the fabric of U.S. pro sports leagues over time.

Washington State Legalized Sports Gambling

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Daniel Roberts is an editor-at-large at Yahoo Finance and closely covers sports business. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.

It was a big year for sports betting in 2019 as nine states legalized the activity, bringing the total of states with legal sports betting to 20.

As neighboring states post increasing sports betting revenue, pressure builds for lawmakers to provide a regulated environment to bet on sports and capture money that could be put toward education or other programs.

By the end of this year, more than half of the US states could have sports wagering laws on the books. This week, American Gaming Association president and CEO Bill Miller said there could be as many as 30 US jurisdictions with legal sports betting at this time next year.

Counting Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, that would mean an additional eight states are coming on board this year. It’s challenging but possible.

For now, Legal Sports Report is eyeing these five states in 2020:

Kentucky

Sometimes governors say they support the regulation of sports betting in their annual state addresses. For a governor to endorse specific sports betting legislation so early in the year is unexpected.

But Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has a history of pushing for the legalization of sports betting during his campaign and as the state’s attorney general.

He came out strongly in favor of H 137 in his State of the Commonwealth address: “Rep. Adam Koenig has filed a sports betting bill. I fully support it, and we should pass it.” The camera flashed to Koenig, and even he appeared surprised.

The next day, Koenig advanced his bill to legalize sports betting for Kentucky’s racetracks, motorsports raceway and online. It would also legalize online poker and daily fantasy sports.

He said support is there in the House to pass the bill in short order, and the governor is eager to put his signature on it. That just leaves the Senate, which Koenig believes “isn’t there yet” on his bill, “but I don’t think they’re too far away.”

Ohio

Few states have spent more time working on crafting a bill than Ohio. H 194 received eight committee hearings, while S 111 got one.

It wasn’t all for nothing, as the sports betting legislation carried over to the second year of the two-year session in the Buckeye State.

Rep. Dave Greenspan tells LSR that his bill will advance through the committee and the House in short order.

However, it will then face a difficult negotiation in the Senate. Greenspan contends that 90% of the language of the bills is the same, but a big difference remains in what agency will oversee the activity.

A spokesman for the Ohio governor told LSR that he would rather see the legislature get sports betting regulation right than see special interests put together a ballot initiative.

The Ohio session goes to the end of the year, giving lawmakers plenty of time to figure it all out. Adding motivation, it’s likely every state bordering Ohio will have legal sports betting this year.

Connecticut

States That Legalized Sports Gambling Articles

Sports betting legalization seemed far from becoming a reality in Connecticut last year.

The legislative effort focused on comprehensive gambling expansion, including sports betting, online gambling, and allowing commercial casino interests to be considered for a casino license. That had no chance in a state where gambling has been controlled by two Indian tribes for nearly 30 years.

Behind the scenes, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes were negotiating with new Gov. Ned Lamont. Those discussions broke down, resulting in Sen. Cathy Osten pushing for the ideal tribal bill to come up in a special session. Her colleagues balked.

But then the Hartford Courant released emails showing that discussions between the governor and tribal leaders were much closer than expected.

Lamont seems willing to punt on a comprehensive solution in order to get CT sports betting done this year, particularly if the tribes make concessions to the state on an online lottery.

States That Will Legalize Sports Gambling

It all bodes well the Constitution State to add sports betting. The legislative session, which begins next week, ends May 6.

Missouri

There is a lot of interest in legalizing sports betting in the Show-Me State. Legislators got a head-start on the session by holding a special committee on the topic in October.

In the opening month of the session, lawmakers have introduced six sports betting bills. The lack of consensus could be the reason for pause, but the enthusiasm portends well.

States That Legalized Sports Gambling Legislation

One bill already made the House floor, as Rep. Dan Shaul’sH 2088 advanced through the Special Committee on Government Oversight on Tuesday. The state’s legislative session runs until May 15.

Maryland

Legislative support appears to be there for Maryland to legalize sports betting, and lawmakers are wasting no time.

There are two sets of companion bills in the legislature, and they got a Senate hearing Wednesday with a House hearing coming next week.

Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is lobbying legislators to allow sports betting at the team’s stadium.

Ultimately, though, sports betting in Maryland will come down to the voters. Adding new types of gambling in the state requires a constitutional amendment by referendum.

Before breaking on April 6, the Maryland Legislature will likely put a sports betting referendum on the November ballot. Referendums can only happen in even years, providing urgency for lawmakers to move.

Like many of the other states on this list, there’s also pressure for Maryland to join its neighbors and not get left behind. Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware have sports betting, while Washington, DC is coming soon.