Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and several lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled legislature have spent years pushing for legislation on personal and online sports betting. After losing in each of the last two sessions, supporters are hoping that legal betting could finally take place in the Commonwealth in 2021. Massachusetts has a one-year legislative term, which gives policymakers more time to work on a bill. However, the long session can also delay relatively small laws such as sports betting. With rising health care costs and shrinking tax revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts has more incentive than ever to create a new (albeit smaller) revenue stream for sports betting, especially after neighboring Rhode Island and New Hampshire have already begun accepting betting. Key issues such as the availability of online licenses, tax rates and eligibility for university sports betting have stalled previous efforts and remain stumbling blocks in the complex legislative process. With most elected officials and gambling stakeholders behind legal betting, there is still hope that a law can be passed by the end of 2021. Maine lawmakers voted to pass personal and mobile sports betting laws in the summer of 2019 and only needed Governor Janet Mills` signature to make them officially legal. But she officially vetoed the law on January 10, 2020, and a last-ditch attempt by lawmakers to overturn her veto failed. Maine is highly unlikely to have sports betting in 2020. Delaware was the first legal state after the Supreme Court decision, in New Jersey, to bring the PASPA case to the forefront. But Delaware`s lack of mobile betting and its decision to hold the lottery has made it one of the worst performing legal betting states.
Almost every state in Ohio already accepts legal sports betting, so it`s no surprise that state lawmakers are still trying to pass legislation, but it hasn`t been easy to pass a bill. Ohio sportsbook supporters have been discussing legal sports betting since the Supreme Court lifted the federal betting ban in May 2018, but have so far failed to pass a bill to legalize betting in the state. Fans seemed close in May 2020 when the Ohio House passed a sports betting bill, but it eventually died in the Senate. Ohio has one of the few lawmakers in the state who meet year-round, raising new hopes that a bill could be introduced in 2021. However, many of the same hurdles that thwarted previous efforts — such as tax rates, operator access, and the regulator — remain, and it remains to be seen whether Buckeye State can finally legalize sports betting. North Dakota lawmakers defeated a 2021 sports betting referendum bill by a one-vote majority in 2022. While that means interest in legal sports betting is clear, it appears that North Dakota voters won`t have the opportunity to approve legal betting until November 2024 at the earliest. Rhode Island has been offering legal sports betting since 2018.
The state, which is the only person allowed to bet at the age of 18, operates its mobile betting product through the lottery. Legal sports betting in Arkansas officially launched on July 1, 2019 at the Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort. Voters approved a gambling expansion bill in November 2019, and Oaklawn was the first casino to be declared legal by the state. Sports betting in Arkansas is all over-the-counter, which means there is no mobile betting at all. A bill surfaced in the state legislature that would have legalized full mobile betting in the state, but it hit a hook with the inclusion of league integrity fees. Finding the best online sports betting sites can be difficult. As legal online sports betting options become more common, committed bettors and everyday fans are looking for the best sports betting sites and betting apps. If an offshore bookmaker voids the player`s winnings or decides not to comply with a withdrawal request, there is not much that can be done from a legal point of view. New York sports bettors are hoping that 2021 will be the year mobile betting arrives (finally) in the Empire State. Officials approved mobile betting nationwide in April 2021, but many questions remain unanswered, including when betting can begin. After years of opposition to legal mobile betting, Governor Andrew Cuomo shocked the sports betting world in January 2021 by supporting online sports betting as a small portion of the state`s budget deficits.
However, Cuomo advocated a single or limited operator model, which was rejected by almost every stakeholder in the industry. That led to a standoff between Cuomo and other Democrats in the legislature over how best to approve online betting. House and Senate lawmakers have introduced cellphone bills that allow up to 14 carriers, but in the final deal reached with the governor and signed by Cuomo in April 2021, there will likely be only four skins in total. Meanwhile, New Yorkers have a handful of retail betting options at brick-and-mortar casinos in the backcountry, but these haven`t done much for the state`s grip on betting. New Jersey now sees about $1 billion in bets each month, the vast majority of which go online — and about 20% or more of New York residents. No law was passed, but Oregon was one of four states included in legal sports betting before PASPA was passed, and on August 27, 2019, it became the 12th state to offer legal sports betting. Mobile betting, operated exclusively by the Oregon Lottery, launched on August 16. After several delays, it was officially launched in October.
Operating an online bookmaker is a difficult undertaking. Financial difficulties, potential legal problems or payment processing issues are just some of the reasons why a bookmaker can become insolvent. New Mexico has not passed a law, but Native American tribes have interpreted that their sports betting is legal under their state tribal gaming contracts. A sports betting bill was considered in early 2020 by a Kentucky House legislative committee, but quickly ran into a problem when Republican lawmakers called the issue “divisive,” with lobbyists successfully opposing the bill, even though it appeared to have a majority in both chambers.