In Which States is Gambling Legal in the US?

While the US legislature has always experienced a contentious relationship with casino gambling and sports betting, you may be surprised to know that only two North American states (namely Hawaii and Utah) have not legalized any form of gambling at all.

What’s more, a significant portion of the marketplace was opened up in May 2018, when the Supreme Court moved to strike down the controversial PAPSA legislation that had previously prohibited sports betting at federal level.

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In theory, this decision opened up an industry worth up to $186 billion, and many states have since legalized sports betting within their boundaries.

But in which specific states is gambling legal in the US? I’ll explore this in detail in the article below, while making a distinction between sports betting, iGaming and land-based casino betting.

The Rise of Sports Betting Stateside – Where is it Legal?

The decision to legalize sports betting at federal level was taken in the late spring of 2018, when the Supreme Court voted by 6 to 3 to strike down the PAPSA legislation that had been in place since 1992.

This was a landmark decision, and one that enabled individual state authorities and jurisdictions to make their own determinations regarding the legislation and regulation of sports betting within their boundaries. This also enabled states to tax gambling revenues and boost their own coffers, with states like New Jersey having done particularly well in this regard.

At the time of writing, some 36 US states (including Washington D.C.) have made sports betting legal in some way or another, whether this comprises a mobile option, retail wagering or a combination of both available channels to ensure more widespread coverage. Here’s a full list of where sports betting is permitted stateside:

Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Mississippi
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Virginia
Washington D.C.
West Virginia
Wyoming

Other states have immediate plans to legalize and regulate sports betting, although some have been deterred by a 2019 decision by the Department of Justice (DoJ). This reversed the department’s previous interpretation of the 1961 ‘Wire Act’, which had historically prohibited inter-state gambling nationwide.

In 2011, the DoJ ruled that this only applied to online casino gambling, but the sudden move to backtrack on this position muddied the waters for state authorities and temporarily hindered the growth of sports betting stateside.

However, New Hampshire is one of several state authorities to have pushed back on the DoJ’s most recent ruling and successfully legalized sports betting following court cases, and I’d expect to see many of the remaining 14 states in North America look to follow suit as the landscape becomes considerably clear.

What About iGaming and Online Casino Gambling?

Conversely, just six US states have legalized iGaming or online casino gameplay on their shores, with this due in part to the restrictions imposed by the aforementioned Wire Act and the wider range of social and political objections that are associated with casino gambling and perceived games of chances (especially those that are widely available online).

Interestingly, the US iGaming market built some significant momentum between 2011 and 2012, when New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware quickly got on board and legalized online casino gambling within their boundaries.

However, it was five more years before Pennsylvania joined the iGaming party in 2017, with West Virginia following suit in 2019. Michigan then got on board in the formative months of 2021, as they launched a full range of iGaming verticals including online casino gambling, remote sports betting and video poker.

While states such as New York, California and many of those who have legalized sports betting in the US have previously made multiple attempts to legalize iGaming, these have so far proved unsuccessful. Of course, new attempts will be made in the future, but we’ll have to wait and see if these are to be successful.

Which States Have Land-Based Casinos?

When it comes to land-based casino gambling in the US, some 13 states have such establishments, namely Nevada, Louisiana, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas, Montana, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho and North Dakota.

Across these jurisdictions, there are some 981 commercial and Native American casinos operating in the US, with these generating 1.8 million jobs and some $57.8 billion in gross revenue as recently as 2021.

Such casinos also generate significant revenues on behalf of states, particularly in terms of commercial growth, job creation and tax revenues. So, the advent of remote sports betting and (to a lesser degree) iGaming has boosted an already lucrative revenue source for state authorities, while unlocking a huge marketplace that’s poised for exponential growth in the future.

David Prior

David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.