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BettingPlanet.com – Sports Betting in the USA

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Best Online Betting Sites for the USA

Sports betting is officially being rolled out across the United States, with nine states having legal online sportsbooks taking bets. Many more US states have legislation in the works to regulate online sports betting. Welcome to BettingPlanet.com’s guide to sports betting in the USA, which includes the top betting sites for each state, a run down of the bonuses and promotions on offer, plus an in-depth of the gambling laws that have seen the legalisation of sports betting in the USA. Our geo-targeted best online betting sites table will only show sportsbooks you can legally sign up at in your location:

Legal sports betting in the USA – By state

Sports betting is run at a state level in the USA, meaning whether sports betting is legal in your location, depends on the laws in the state you are in. Below we have listed the states with legal sports betting, plus give an update on states where legislation allowing online wagering is passed.

New JerseyNew Jersey sports betting sites

Read NJ: New Jersey sports betting sites
Promos: NJ sports betting bonuses & promotions
Latest: NJ sports betting news

Online sports betting came to New Jersey just a month after PASPA was repealed, with it slowly blossoming into a fruitful industry in the Garden State. DraftKing was the first of the sports betting companies to launch online, while towards the tail-end of 2024, there is more than 14 licensed sports betting operators. Sports betting sites in New Jersey are governed by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, while sports betting operators must be partnered with a land-based gambling venue. Some of the sports betting brands in New Jersey include Betstars, FoxBet and 888Sport.

PennsylvaniaPennsylvania sports betting sites

Read PA: Pennsylvania sports betting sites

Pennsylvania launched a regulated sports betting industry in May of 2019, when SugarHouse Sportsbook PA launched. Since then there has been a stead influx of betting sites enter in the PA market, including the likes of Valley Forge Casino, Rivers Casino and Meadows Racetrack and Casino. Unlike other US states with betting, we are yet to see the big international betting companies enter the Pennsylvania market with their own brands.


  •  Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
     Rivers Casino
     SugarHouse Casino
     Parx Casino
     Parx Casino – South Philadelphia Race and Sportsbook
     Harrah’s Philadelphia
     Valley Forge Casino
     Parx Casino – Oaks Race and Sportsbook
     Presque Isle Downs and Casino
     Mount Airy Casino Resort
     Mohegan Sun Pocono
     Meadows Racetrack and Casino

  •  SugarHouse Casino
     Parx Casino
     Rivers Casino
     Valley Forge Casino
     Mount Airy Casino Resort
     Meadows Racetrack and Casino

IndianaIndiana sports betting sites

Read IN: Indiana sports betting sites

Indiana launched its legal sports betting industry on October 3, 2019, with the first two online betting sites to launch being BetRivers and DraftKings, with both experiencing strong growth in their short existence. Other than the regulated sports betting sites in Indiana, there are many retail betting locations, with these being at land-based casinos. Sports betting in India is Governed by the Sports Wagering and Paid Fantasy Sports Division, with betting sites needing to hold a license to legally offer these products.

NevadaNevada sports betting sites

READ NV: Nevada sports betting sites

Sports betting has been common-place in Nevada for a long time, with this state having exemptions prior to the fall of PASPA. Many of the top casinos in Nevada have mobile betting platforms, to complement their retail betting shops. To bet online at a Nevada sportsbook you must be based inside the borders of the state. To open a sports betting account you must also do it in the flesh, at the casino’s retail betting location before you can bet online. During the sign up process at a Nevada sportsbook you will have to make a deposit, and present ID to verify your account.

IowaIowa online betting sites

Read: Iowa sports betting sites

Iowa was a fast-mover in establishing its online sports betting industry, with the first online sportsbook launching in August of 2019. Unfortunately it is not yet possible to open a new sports betting account at a legalised Iowa betting site online, with opening it via a physical location (at a number of casinos in racetracks in the state) a must. This restriction is being looked at closely by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, although it will be in place until at least 2021, severely restricting the online betting industry in the state.

West VirginiaWest Virginia sports betting sites

Read: Sports betting in West Virginia

West Virginia has fully embraced the digital era, with online sportsbook launching towards the tail-end of 2019, just in time for the NFL season. While only two sportsbooks — FanDuel and DraftKings — have opened their digital doors after striking partnerships with land-based gambling operators, in accordance with local law. The sports betting industry in West Virginia is still in its infancy, with several of the gambling businesses, who are eligible to operate sports betting on their premises launching and then shutting down, after a dispute with their technology provider. Watch this space, West Virginia is likely to have new betting sites launching early in 2020. All West Virginia sports betting activities are regulated by the West Virginia Racing Commission.

Rhode IslandRhode Island sports betting sites

Read: Rhode Island sports betting

Rhode Island has established an online sports betting industry, but it is state-run through the lottery and much more restricted than other US states. The Rhode Island Government has partnered with leading British bookmaker William Hill to present the “only online legal sports betting option on Rhode Island.” You can also bet at two physical locations on Rhode Island with these being Twin River and Tiverton Casinos. You can sign up for an account at the official Rhode Island sports betting site, but you can only place bets via the official apps, because state laws require geo-location technology to be active. Rhode Island sports betting is regulated by the RI Division of Gaming and Athletics.

MississippiMississippi sports betting sites

Read: Top Mississippi sports betting sites

Sports betting is available in Mississippi but on a very restricted basis, with it only available at casinos in the state. You can also bet via mobile, but you must be on the physical location of a casino to doit. While Mississippi sports betting is only in its early stages, we expect a more fluent online betting industry in the coming years, as it matures in the USA.

OregonOregon online sports betting

Read: Oregon sports betting sites

Online sports betting launched in Oregon in October 2019, with the state lottery the sole digital operator at this point. Several of the tribal casinos in Oregon have also began accepting bets. To bet online in Oregon legally it has be done via the Scoreboard App, which is available all over the state. You can sign up online for the Scoreboard app, but you will have to prove your identity, including providing the last four digits of your social security number. Sports betting in Oregon is policed by the state Lottery regulator.

US States with online sports betting launching soon

With US states now able to legalise and regulate sports betting, many states are in the process of rolling it out, with several due to launch late in 2019, or in the early throes of 2020.

IllinoisIllinois sports betting online

Read: Illinois sports betting sites

Illinois has legalised sports betting in the second half of 2019, but the industry is yet to be rolled out. We expect it to begin happening when the decision makers in the Illinois Government return in 2020. Already agreed upon is that to sports betting operators must have an association or partnership with a land-based gambling venue in the state, and customers will have to sign up at the venues in the flesh, although this will not be a permanent arrangement. With a population of close to 13 million, we imagine many of the best betting sites in the world will be keen to move into Illinois. Already residents of Illinois can bet on horse racing and greyhounds legally, while online lotto is also regulated.

TennesseeTennessee sports betting online

Read: Tennessee sports betting sites

Tennessee is set to launch its regulated online sports betting industry in the early stages of 2020, with the model they have gone with set to make it possible for many of the biggest betting companies in the world to enter the market. It’s likely punters will be able to sign up at online sportsbooks from anywhere, and bet via mobile apps. Venues around Tennessee will also have legal sports betting available.

How to bet on US sports in 2024

The USA is home to some of the most popular sports leagues in the world, including the NBA and the NFL, with both of these national competitions drawing global interest. The newly regulated US sports betting sites obviously make a feature of the popular sports and events. Some of the main sports to bet on in the USA include:

NBA betting

The world’s premier basketball league, the NBA is where the best of the best assemble to play one of the world’s truly global games. Made famous by the sporting legends it creates — like Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Lebron James, the National Basketball Association features 30 franchises split into two conferences — the eastern and western conferences — that battle it out for the Larry O’Brien trophy in the NBA Finals. The 82-game NBA season starts in October, ends in May and is followed by a two-month playoff series that crowns a winner in June.

ALL NBA predictions & news

NHL betting

The one thing that can constantly be relied upon to unite the USA with Canada is the National Hockey League, or the NHL for short. Filled with the sport’s best and highest-paid athletes that come largely from Canada, the USA, Russia and all around Europe, the NHL is a fast-paced, bruising league that features 31 teams in major cities across the USA and Canada that make up two conferences — the east and west — battling it out for the Stanley Cup. Much like the NBA, the NHL regular season starts in October, is played throughout winter and ends in May, where a two-month playoff series ends in June.

NFL betting

The NFL is the top-flight American Football competition in the USA, with it boasting some of the highest paid athletes on the planet. While not having huge interest outside the states, the US public love the NFL, which culminates in the two best teams playing off in the Super Bowl, which is next due to be held on February 7, 2020. Betting on the NFL, particularly the Super Bowl is extremely popular and only growing more so since the legalisation of sports betting in some US states.

MORE NFL predictions & news

MLB betting sites

Baseball has long held the hearts of Americans as the country’s deepest and longest romance with sport. Major League Baseball has 30 teams split into six divisions between two different leagues (with their own unique rules) — the National league and American League. The MLB features an incredible 162-game season played throughout the summer and is followed by divisional and conference playoffs that end with a champion being crowned in the World Series. The USA’s greatest folklore and sporting tales stem from baseball and feature some of its highest-paid athletes ever.

MORE MLB predictions & news

Betting on the PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the creme de la creme of the men’s professional golf circuit. Anyone who’s anyone plays in the United States, including homegrown heroes Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth and international stars like Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Jon Rahm.

All four of golf’s major titles are co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, while three of them – the Masters, the US Open and the PGA Championship – are held in the US every year. Several of the events that make up the prestigious World Golf Championships are also staged in North America on a regular basis.

See our dedicated PGA Tour betting page to learn more about how and where to bet on golf online.

Major League Soccer betting sites

Make no mistake, North America’s push into the world of soccer is real, as Major League Soccer continues to grow in countries where it was once shunned. Played in the North American summer and featuring 23 teams from the USA and Canada, MLS has grown quickly to attract some of the game’s biggest stars, including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and a host of others.

Gambling and sports betting laws overview

Sports betting laws in the USA can be hard to get your head around, largely because many of the 50 states have their own incarnations of the Federal laws. For instance, much of the USA has banned all forms of sports betting and online betting, but some states, including Nevada and New Jersey now have legal and regulated betting industries.

The below table reveals the legalities of each form of major online gambling and sports betting in the states of the USA. Just because they are technically illegal, does not mean we can’t do these types of gambling, it just means you will be playing at offshore sites, or ones based in another country. BettingPlanet.com chooses not to promote illegal offshore gambling sites or sports betting sites to the USA.

For more information on any of the following please follow the links in the table.

State Sports Betting Racetrack Lottery Online Casinos Online Poker
Alabama No No No No No
Alaska No No No No No
Arizona No No Yes No No
Arkansas Yes Yes Yes No No
California No No Yes No No
Colorado Yes Yes Yes No No
Connecticut No No Yes No No
Delaware Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
District of Columbia Yes No Yes No No
Florida No No Yes No No
Georgia No Yes Yes No No
Hawaii No No No No No
Idaho No No Yes No No
Illinois Yes Yes Yes No No
Indiana Yes Yes Yes No No
Iowa Yes Yes Yes No No
Kansas No No Yes No No
Kentucky No Yes Yes No No
Louisiana No Yes Yes No No
Maine No Yes Yes No No
Maryland No Yes Yes No No
Massachusetts No Yes Yes No No
Michigan Yes Yes Yes No No
Minnesota No Yes Yes No No
Mississippi Yes No No No No
Missouri No No No No No
Montana Yes No Yes No No
Nebraska No No Yes No No
Nevada Yes No No No Yes
New Hampshire Yes  No Yes No No
New Jersey Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
New Mexico Yes Yes Yes No No
New York Yes Yes Yes No No
North Carolina Yes No Yes No No
North Dakota No No Yes No No
Ohio No Yes Yes No No
Oklahoma No Yes Yes No No
Oregon Yes No Yes No No
Pennsylvania Yes Yes Yes  Yes Yes
Rhode Island Yes Yes Yes No No
South Carolina No No Yes No No
South Dakota No No Yes No No
Tennessee Yes No Yes No No
Texas No No Yes No No
Utah No No No No No
Vermont No No No No No
Virginia No Yes Yes No No
Washington No No Yes No No
West Virginia Yes Yes Yes No No
Wisconsin No No Yes No No
Wyoming No Yes Yes No No

* Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon had existing sports betting laws grandfathered in when PASPA was enacted in 1992; however, Oregon does not have a full-scale sports gambling industry at present.

Sports betting in the USA

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was officially overturned by the US Supreme Court on May 14, 2018, which paves the way for the regulation and taxation of sports betting in the United States.

New Jersey challenged Murphy vs NCAA, which was a legal stoush between major sports leagues and the state, and argued that the industry could provide a significant revenue stream. But the NCAA countered that sports betting was a violation of PASPA.

Twice the PASPA legislation was upheld but finally in a 6-3 majority the Supreme Court made the decision to allow sports betting to be legalised on a state by state basis.

This means each state in the USA can legislate to allow sports betting which will create many different laws across the country, and will ultimately lead to legislation legalising wagering at a federal level to stamp out the conflicting state laws.

At the moment only a few US States have some form of legal and regulated sports wagering, but even these states, in comparison to advanced wagering jurisdictions like the United Kingdom and Australia, are streets behind.

Instead millions of US dollars is being wagered at offshore gambling websites, with these unaffected by the existing Federal laws, despite the best attempts of the Government over the the years.

As sports betting is legalised across the USA states, the jockeying to operate is going to be intense with UK gambling giants like William Hill and Bet365 already signalling their intentions to make a play for the market. New online betting products like the Global Tote are also becoming more common.

USA sports betting fans wager on everything from the NBA, NFL, college sports, NHL and many other global and domestic sporting competitions.

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Online casinos in the USA

Online casinos in America are much like sports betting in that there is a lack of regulation in most states, although more and more land-based venues are branching out into the online realm. As a general rule in the states with legal online casinos like Nevada, the website must be paired or owned by a land-based venue, which then allows them to offer real money casino games on the internet.

Other states in the USA still fail to address online casinos in law meaning they are governed by the outdated UIEGA legislation, which fails to stop USA citizens from gambling at offshore casinos, with many decent ones available to citizens of the state. If you are new to the scene, by offshore, we simply mean that the casino has a license in other jurisdiction.

As an example companies like Caesars, one of the biggest casino operators accepting punters from the USA, have a local licenses where required and process all their money locally. Regulation helped the the US Government stop the proliferation of money going to offshore betting sites, but until they either A) regulated online casinos or B) venture into the world of IP blocking, which they have shown an unwillingness to do, you can play at online casinos outside the United States.

Sports betting & Gambling laws in the USA

Like we have spoken about in the sports betting section above, the ruling that is changing the face of gambling in the USA was when the Supreme court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act after New Jersey challenged it. This ruling effectively allowed each state to begin the process of legislating and implementing legal online sports betting industries.

So far New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Rhode Island have ratified online sports betting and all have implemented some betting functions but all to varying degrees. Many other states are still in the process of pushing it through state regulators, while there are also several others dragging their heels, but they are generally states that will follow suit eventually.

Sports betting in the USA – Q and A

Can people in the US bet with offshore online sportsbooks?
This is a loaded question, with it very possible to bet with offshore betting sites from the US. However BettingPlanet.com chooses not to promote illegal sports betting sites to the US, instead we promote the regulated betting options in states that have the. We’ll also provide updates about the regulation in US states where sports betting is pending.

Is it free to join an online betting site?
If you’re in the United States, in one of the nine states that have regulated sports betting, it’s 100% possible to sign up and join sports betting sites. The illegal online sportsbooks also accept US sign ups.

Can I bet on sports with Paypal?
The US states that allow sports betting online, will have licensed sportsbooks, that have a bevy of deposit options, which generally include Paypal. Illegal betting sites will not offer US citizens Paypal deposits, with this payment processor only operating in legal sports betting jurisdictions.

Is US sports betting popular?
Sports betting in the USA is growing increasingly popular as more regulated betting options are rolled out, but it has always had a strong foothold, with many offshore companies servicing this market. We expect more and more money to be poured into online betting in the coming years, as more states legislate legal wagering.

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