sports betting legislation – Page 2

February 24, 2025

Maryland lawmaker files bill to kill sports betting

The latest trend in sports betting legislation seems to be to try to shut down legal markets.

On 20 February a Maryland lawmaker filed a bill to shut down that state’s legal sports betting market. It is the second bill across the US this year calling for the end to an already legal market. Lawmakers in Vermont filed a similar bill there on 4 February.

In Maryland, Senator Joanne Benson filed SB 1033, which would shut down the legal online sports betting market on 1 January 2026. In the text of the bill, Benson suggests that some operators have application fees refunded in certain circumstances. It would not affect the status of Maryland’s brick-and-mortar sportsbooks.

Retail sports betting launched in December 2021 in Maryland. Digital platforms launched in November 2022. Through January 2025, bettors had wagered a combined $12.2 billion (£9.6 billion/€11.7 billion) across both verticals, and the state got $143.2 million in tax revenue. Operators reported gross gaming revenue of ..

February 14, 2025

Legal sports betting all but dead after Minnesota senate committee hearing

On Thursday (13 February) the Minnesota senate all but killed the hopes of legal sports betting.

The Minnesota committee on government and local affairs ended deadlocked, 6-6, on an industry friendly legal digital wagering bill and tabled a second. Lawmakers in the state have been trying for at least five sessions to legalise sports betting, to no avail.

The committee heard testimony on SB 757 from the gambling industry, charitable gambling, problem and responsible gambling groups and others, before a lively and passionate question-and-answer period with bill sponsor Matt Klein. Klein was peppered with questions and comments about gambling addiction, the price of entry into the market and why the state should allow betting on college sports.

His bill would have tethered 11 sports betting licences to the state’s tribes and sent 45% of tax revenue to charitable gambling. It earmarked another 15% of state tax revenue for Minnesota’s horse tracks. Those provisions solved key problems..

February 13, 2025

Texas sports betting constitutional amendment filed

Texas representative Sam Harless filed the first gambling bill of the session on Wednesday (12 February). The constitutional amendment would send the decision to legalise sports betting to state voters in November.

HJR 134 appears to call only for retail sports betting, although it does not explicitly prohibit digital wagering. It would allow for professional sports teams, PGA Tour stops and Class I racetracks to become licensed. The proposal requires that any potential licensees be in existence as of 1 January 2025. Licensees would be able to work with management service providers to operate sportsbooks.

There is no framework in the constitutional amendment and the language is vague:

The constitutional amendment authorising the legislature to legalise wagering in this state on certain sporting events.

Other state legislatures, including Louisiana and Maryland, have gone down similar pathways. Should voters approve in Texas as they did in those states, the legislature would then..

February 11, 2025

Season-long props, sports awards betting approved by NY senate committee

The New York state senate passed a bill that legalises a new kind of proposition bets and some awards wagers.

In a bill sponsored by New York state senator Joseph P Addabbo Jr, the committee voted on Tuesday (11 February) to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law. SB 2616 would allow for betting on season-long proposition and future award winners, such as the Heisman Trophy. It would also add betting on pre-game coin tosses.

The bill passed unanimously. From here, it will continue moving through the senate. It must pass the house and get Governor Kathy Hochul’s signature before it could become effective.

According to the text of the proposal, allowing for season-long proposition bets and predicted award winners would “expand on an already successful” online sports betting product.

The New York bill noted that the state was “quickly become the leading market for mobile sports”. Adding that this was bringing in revenue for education in the state.

Senator Addabbo ha..

February 5, 2025

Hawaii senate committee moves sports betting bill, but road to legalisation no sure thing

A Hawaii senate bill that would legalise digital sports betting moved forward on Tuesday (4 February). But not convincingly.

On Tuesday the senate economic development and technology committee advanced SB 1569, which would allow for statewide mobile sports betting. It is the second wagering bill to gain traction in the Hawaii legislature in a week.

On 31 January, the house economic development and technology committee moved HB 1308 forward. That bill is the house companion to SB 1569. In both chambers, the committees unanimously moved the bills, but several lawmakers did so “with reservations”. That suggests that the bills won’t have a smooth ride through the legislature.

The sports betting bills are two of at least eight gambling bills in the state legislature. Among them is a house bill that would only allow for gambling in designated tourist zones, a restriction not seen elsewhere in the US, but proposed and in practice in several Asian countries. There are also bills that wou..

January 31, 2025

Minnesota sports betting bill comprehensive, but could raise questions in Indian Country

Filed on Thursday (30 January), a comprehensive Minnesota sports betting bill could raise eyebrows within tribes. But here's a look at what else is inside.

Senator Matt Klein, a longtime legal sports betting proponent, filed SB 757, which would allow for statewide mobile sports betting with platforms tied to tribal casinos. The bill also outlines regulations for daily fantasy and would allow for betting on esports.

Minnesota lawmakers have been trying for at least four years to legalise sports betting. But finding the sweet spot with the state’s 11 tribes – who have exclusivity for gaming – and local horse tracks has proved elusive.

Klein’s bill lays out a detailed framework that would allow for 11 wagering operator licences for the state’s tribes. The tribes, in turn, could contract with management service providers for digital wagering platforms. According to the text of the bill, any bets placed outside of Indian Country would be taxed at 22%. That rate is higher than the..

January 31, 2025

State of the Union: Feds don’t believe Mizuhara; Wyoming online gambling on hold until next week; more

Welcome to iGB's State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we've covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.

Feds recommend 57 months for Mizuhara

In court documents released on Thursday (30 January), US attorneys are recommending a “significant period of incarceration” for former Shohei Ohtani interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. The documents were filed a week ahead of Mizuhara’s 6 February sentencing hearing. Mizuhara bet with an illegal bookmaker and stole $17 million (£13.7 million/€16.3 million) from baseball star Ohtani.

In the documents, Jeff Mitchell, the US attorney leading the government’s case, clearly states that he does not believe that Mizuhara had a long-standing gambling addiction.

Exhibits filed with the case show that Mizuhara started gambling on a legal site, DraftKings, in 2023 after he had “already stolen millions of dollars from Mr Ohtani”. The statements paint Mizuhara as a dishonest thief rather ..

January 27, 2025

NH lawmakers won’t raise legal sports betting age

New Hampshire is one of four US jurisdictions that set the legal wagering age at 18. For now, that's where it will stay.

The New Hampshire house ways and means committee on Monday (27 January) declined to move forward HB 83, which would have raised the legal betting age to 21. The committee voted, 11-7, that the bill was “inexpedient to legislate”, which means that it is dead.

Kentucky, Wyoming and Washington DC are the other three jurisdictions that allow 18-year-olds to place bets.

During the ways and means executive session, there was some conversation about whether or not to change the legal betting age.

Representative Thomas Schamberg favoured the bill, saying, “I think it is important that we make a statement about the age limit like we have about alcohol, tobacco products and vapes. Basically, I am supporting the age of 21 in New Hampshire.”

Aures: “I see it as a liberty issue”

But Representative Cyril Aures spoke for what turned out to be the majority.

“I’d ju..

January 8, 2025

Industry calls lopsided Minnesota online sports betting hearing “a media stunt”

In Minnesota, a state that has considered legalising sports betting since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned in 2018, Senator John Marty today (8 January) held a hearing on the issue. But he didn't invite industry reps.

The decision to keep the industry out of the hearing in front of the state senate finance committee was by design. In his comments before testimony began, Marty acknowledged that the state has been struggling with whether or not to legalise.

But he also said that no previous hearing had “focused on harm”. While “harm” may not have been a focus in previous hearings, problem and responsible gambling advocates testified many times.

Marty also suggested that sports betting “is currently legal in Minnesota”. He said betting with friends or strangers is legal. But “sports bookmaking where a corporate entity can come in and profit off of your betting” is not legal. He went on to qualify gambling addiction “as powerful as any op..

December 31, 2024

Try, try again: 11 US states don’t have legal wagering; at least four are contenders in 2025

It would be fair to say that the gambling industry would consider 2024 an epic fail in regards to legalisation. No US state expanded gambling of any kind, marking the first year since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act fell in 2018 that that happened.

With 2025 on the horizon, hope springs. Seven years after sports betting became a states’ rights issue, eleven US states have not legalised. It seems likely that at least one – Utah – never will. But what about the rest?

Below is a look at prospects in the 10 other states without legal wagering.

Alabama

In 2024, Alabama lawmakers tried a big lift – the legalisation of everything from lottery to casino to sports betting. All in a state with no gambling, other than electronic bingo on Indian land and historic horse racings at pari-mutuel facilities. The state legislature ultimately gutted and then failed to pass any proposals.

So far, no bills have been pre-filed for the legislative session, which is set to run from..

December 23, 2024

Three US gambling bills will die by end of year but three wagering bills pre-filed for 2025

After a year in which no US jurisdiction expanded legal digital sports betting or igaming through the state legislature, lawmakers in Michigan and Ohio tried last-ditch efforts at changes or expansions. And lawmakers in South Carolina and Texas pre-filed betting bills ahead of the 2025 sessions.

When the clock strikes midnight on 31 December, gambling bills in Michigan and Ohio will die. And there is no clear indication that lawmakers in either state will try again in 2025.

On the flip side, lawmakers in South Carolina and Texas pre-filed legal sports betting bills. Those bills are expected to be entertained during the 2025 sessions, although they lack the backing or momentum usually associated with gambling bills that succeed.

In South Carolina, the legislature has dabbled in sports betting, but since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned in 2018, there’s been no consensus or clear pathway. This time around, the legislature will have a constitu..

December 10, 2024

Michigan lawmakers seeking online gambling hike of 1% or less

The measures seek the most modest of bumps to the tax rates, avoiding putting much pressure on operators.

Two Michigan state senators, Sam Singh and Jeremy Moss, have introduced two bills proposing modest tax increases on sports betting and igaming revenue. However, unlike other states that have attempted to introduce massive increases, these legislators are taking a more subtle approach.

Introduced 5 December, Senate Bill 1193 seeks to raise the tax rate on commercial sports betting operators’ adjusted gross receipts from 8.4% to 8.5%. It only applies to non-tribal betting; the state can’t adjust tribal betting rates.

The increase would give slightly more revenue to the city in which the sports betting operator’s land-based casino partner is located. That figure is now 30%, but the bill would increase it to 31%.

Proposed online casino tax hike is tiered

Concurrently, Senate Bill 1194 proposes a tiered increase in igaming tax rates, with adjustments depending on revenue brackets. ..

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Tag: sports betting legislation