• States That Legalized Sports Gambling Legalization
• States That Legalized Sports Gambling
• States That Legalized Sports Gambling Articles
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• States That Legalized Sports Gambling Winnings

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). Montana was the first state to legalize sports betting this year, joining the likes of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and several other states that legalized the activity in 2018. Various states across the nation could still see sports betting legalized in 2020 for a 2021 launch. The Coronavirus pandemic may help lawmakers warm up to the idea because of the revenue it could bring to economies trying to come back from huge financial losses. BOSTON - There are a number of. The gambling map is always evolving as North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington recently passed bills to legalize sports betting. Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Ohio and Vermont.

• Various states across the nation could still see sports betting legalized in 2020 for a 2021 launch.
• The Coronavirus pandemic may help lawmakers warm up to the idea because of the revenue it could bring to economies trying to come back from huge financial losses.

BOSTON – There are a number of states on the path toward legalizing sports betting during their 2020 sessions.

Although the Coronavirus pandemic has caused hearings to be put on pause or has led to shortened schedules for bills to be heard, the topic of gambling on sporting events is still being considered.

In fact, a general thought by many states in consideration is that sports betting becoming legal would be a helpful revenue stream to recoup money lost during the COVID-19 crisis.

States With Bills Still Open In 2020

States That Legalized Sports Gambling Legalization

Vermont is still in discussions on the legal gambling of sporting events. While they have a few bills that would actually legalize the activity, their latest bill, VT SB 59 would open a study on how betting on sports would affect their economy in all aspects of the market. LegalSportsBetting has spoken to Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio legislators for their bills that would make sports betting legal in those respective states.

Each interview resulted in the goal of getting legal sports betting in the states during the 2020 session. All three understand that the current focus is on how to deal with the damage caused by the Coronavirus but the idea that sports betting could help with the damage is not lost on them.

They have all concluded that once the biggest topics of conversation regarding their states and how to get them reopened have been resolved, budget discussions will be next on the list. This is where bills that center around legal gambling on sporting events would come into play as they could help with bridging deficits only made bigger by COVID-19.

Kansas, California, and Alaska are the last three states that have bills open this session to make sports betting a legal activity. Of the three, Kansas has had the most headway with two bills. One bill, KS SB 283, has gone farther than the other but Kansas Governor Laura Kelly will not move on it until proper amendments are made, one of which is the inclusion of an iLottery.

California would be a huge money pot should they allow legal sports betting to become regulated in their state as they are home to many of the top major sports leagues. Their bills are still open but they are being hit hard with the Coronavirus and have been locked down for some time.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy would like to make the pastime legal in his state but the bills proposed have not made much progress to date, however, there is still hope for them to do so this year.

Governor Dunleavy initially proposed the idea to help with Alaska’s budget and this was prior to the pandemic so the bills may have an even bigger edge in the aftermath of the global crisis for financial reasons.

Other States Requiring A Public Vote

Maryland, South Dakota, and Virginia are all states that have passed legislation to make sports betting legal pending a public vote in November 2020.

Once the constituents vote on the topic, the results will factor into the 2021 session regarding rules and regulations on the actual industry and what it would offer.

Louisiana is currently doing a similar referendum bill, LA SB 130, that is making its way through the House to become legal. Should it pass by June 1 then residents in each individual parish would also get to vote on making sports betting legal in the Pelican State.

The Final Result

States That Legalized Sports Gambling

States That Legalized Sports Gambling Articles

States That Legalized Sports Gambling Rules

If all were to go right with each state mentioned, that would mean more than a handful of new states in the nation could see legal sports betting in 2021. That would make the tally of more than half of the nation embracing the legal gambling on sports matchups.

At the end of the day, every state knows that their resident’s wager on sports, it’s simply a matter of whether or not they want to offer them a regulated and transparent way of engaging in the activity while having their economies profit as a helpful bonus coming off of a pandemic.

News tags: Alaska California Coronavirus COVID-19 Kansas Legal sports betting Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts New York Ohio South Dakota Vermont Virginia

Christina has been writing for as long as she can remember and does dedicated research on the newly regulated sports betting market. She comes from a family of sports lovers that engage in friendly bets from time to time. During the winter months, you can find Christina baking cookies and beating the entire staff at Mario Kart…the N64 version of course.

After the Supreme Court found the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 to be unconstitutional in its 7-2 ruling in Murphy v. NCAA in May 2018, states were free to determine whether to legalize sports betting. Since the decision was made, 22 states have legalized sports betting, while Ohio and Massachusetts, among other states, continue to debate legalization without any legislation getting through the legislature.

While sports betting has mostly been enabled as soon as bills have been signed into law, Maryland, Louisiana, and South Dakota voters will be considering provisions on the November 3 ballot that would allow betting to move forward.

States That Legalized Sports Gambling Winnings

The Maryland Constitution requires voters to approve any changes to commercial gambling laws. The ballot initiative asks voters, “Do you approve the expansion of commercial gaming in the State of Maryland to authorize sports and events betting for the primary purpose of raising revenue for education?” If this measure is approved, the Maryland legislature would determine how sports betting would be implemented some time in 2021 at the six casinos located in the state. Maryland will be late to the sports betting party, as Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. are already taking bets at various facilities.

The Louisiana legislature has attempted to pass sports betting laws, including 2019, when a bill to legalize fantasy sports was vetoed by the governor. Another bill that died on the last day of session would have allowed sportsbooks for race casinos and race tracks on the ballot in November 2019. In 2020, the legislature finally passed a bill to allow voters to decide whether individual parishes should legalize sports wagering.

The South Dakota legislature approved SJR 501 in March 2020, which adds a ballot measure to let voters decide whether sports betting should be legalized in the city of Deadwood, the only jurisdiction in the state that is allowed to have gambling. State law allows Indian casinos to offer any betting that is allowed in commercial casinos, so the referendum would also cover them. If the referendum passes, the legislature will determine how sports betting will be implemented in the 2021 session. The South Dakota Legislative Research Council’s December 19, 2018 fiscal analysis estimated that “adjusted gross revenue for overall gaming action in Deadwood is expected to be $100,546,650. Adjusted gross revenue for sports betting in South Dakota is expected to be $2,051,972 of which the State would expect to tax at 9 percent, thereby generating an estimated $184,678 in new tax revenue.”

The results of these ballot measures could lead to half of the states legalizing sports betting.

In Ohio, the House of Representatives passed HB 194 on May 28, 2020 The bill calls for mobile betting with a 10 percent tax overseen by the Ohio Lottery Commission, and the proceeds would be spent on education. In the Senate, SB 111 would allow sports betting with a 6.25 percent tax overseen by the Ohio Casino Control Commission, and the proceeds would go to the general revenue fund for state operations. The bill remains in committee and has not been vote on by the full Senate.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R) has long advocated for the legalization of sports betting. However, while a number of bills have been introduced relating to the issue, the Massachusetts Legislature has not passed any bill due to concerns about the regulations and ensuring more entities are involved with the legislation.

It may come as a surprise that Nevada, one of four states grandfathered for sports gambling under PASPA and therefore decades ahead of the remaining states, does not bring in the most revenue from sports betting. While people do spend more on betting in Nevada, the tax rates are lower than in New Jersey. New Jersey has an 8.5 percent tax in person and 13 percent for online betting compared to Nevada at a 6.75 percent rate. Between June 2018 and September 2019, New Jersey received $36.12 million in tax revenue while Nevada received $27.51 million in tax revenue.

With the potential for half of the states to agree to sports betting by the end of 2020, the benefits of the Murphy decision are becoming clear. 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.