sports betting tax – FairOdds Network

February 26, 2025

Gambling tax increases are all the rage, with New Jersey the latest to consider it

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy has plans to spend $58.1 billion this year and he wants to finance some of that by raising sports betting and igaming taxes among other levies.

The proposal, which Murphy shared on Tuesday (25 February), is the latest gambling and sports betting tax increase proposed in the US in the last year. It feels somewhat ironic, in that Murphy’s name is on the lawsuit that overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018. Since then, 38 states have launched some form of sports betting (Missouri is also set to launch later this year), with two of those hiking their original sports betting tax rates.

Murphy proposes hiking both the sports betting and igaming tax rates to 25%, up from 13% and 15%, respectively.

“This tax increase would be a wrong turn for New Jersey,” industry lobbyist Jeremy Kudon countered in a statement on behalf of the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA). “Since New Jersey first launched regulated sports betting seven..

February 19, 2025

Two US reps again file bill to repeal federal sports betting excise tax

The two legislators have once again filed to remove the 0.25% tax that has been in place since 1951.

United States representatives Dina Titus of Nevada and Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania re-filed legislation on Tuesday (18 February) to repeal the 0.25% federal excise tax on sports betting handle.

It is the fourth consecutive session the co-chairs of the congressional gaming caucus have combined for this bipartisan push. They also did so in 2019, 2021 and 2023. The federal excise tax has been in place since 1951, when it was introduced primarily to counter illegal gambling.

The tax revenue created has dramatically increased since the US Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018. There was nearly $148 billion (£117.72 billion/€142 billion) wagered legally in 2024. That resulted in close to $370 million in tax revenue. That figure will end up slightly higher after Arizona reports its figures for November and December.

There is again compet..

February 7, 2025

State of the Union: Bet the coin flip in MA, OH lawmakers aren’t for doubling the tax, 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.

MA regulator to allow Super Bowl coin flip bets

A year after voting not to allow bets on the Super Bowl coin flip, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) reversed itself on Thursday (6 February). Operators in the state can now offer the bet ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. Since last year, former MGC chair Cathy Judd-Stein retired and commissioner Paul Brodeur joined. Brodeur, who said “it’s not something that can be gamed, so I’m comfortable moving forward with this,” was the swing vote.

The commission also agreed to hold an adjudicatory hearing for Caesars Sportsbook. The company took bets on the total number of red cards during UEFA Euros 2024. MGC regulations prohibit bets on penalties, injuries and other things that could be manipulated. Caesars to..

February 4, 2025

Ohio governor wants to double sports betting tax… again

Ohio's governor, Mike DeWine, rolled out his final budget proposal on Monday (3 February) and it includes raising the legal sports betting tax on operators to 40%.

Should the state legislature agree, it would mark the second time since July 2023 that the tax was raised. In 2023, DeWine pushed through a budget that hiked the tax from 10% to 20%. That moved Ohio from a gambling-friendly tax state to one on the higher end of the spectrum.

If the tax goes to 40%, it would make Ohio the second-most expensive competitive market for wagering operators. New York has the highest tax rate at 51%. And last summer, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker initiated discussions to raise the tax in his state. Pritzker initially proposed more than doubling the 15% tax to 35%. But lawmakers went further, creating a sliding scale between 20% and 40%. The highest-revenue companies pay at the top end of the scale.

“We have known since day one that DeWine has hated sports betting,” gambling consultant Bren..

November 15, 2024

State of the Union: New Jersey to ban college props? Polymarket under fire and 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.

New Jersey bill would ban college-player props

Yesterday (14 November) New Jersey’s house tourism, gaming and the arts committee moved forward a bill that would ban betting college-player prop bets. The bill is likely in response to the NCAA’s campaign to get all US states to ban such bets.

But wagering operators have long argued that banning any kind of bet will only send bettors to the black market. That will take money away from companies and states. And it also puts consumers at risk.

“Player propositions are available on illegal and offshore sportsbooks and removing customers’ ability to place legal wagers will deter bettors from moving to the regulated market,” American Gaming Association SVP of strategic communications Joe Maloney told iGB in May.

Thirteen US states ban betting on college-player p..

August 12, 2024

Politics of DraftKings’ proposed winners’ tax – and how the US industry is responsible for high wagering taxes

There is an argument to be made that DraftKings put the gambling industry in a tough spot in 2019 when it agreed to a 51% tax rate in New Hampshire and that its latest idea to impose a surcharge in high-tax states is a consequence of that.
When DraftKings, in early August, rolled out its plan to essentially tax winners in states with a tax rate above 20%, reaction was overwhelming negative.

Since then, Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz said his company won’t follow suit. And Penn Interactive’s Jay Snowden said during the company’s earnings call said that the idea was “interesting” and “unexpected”. He didn’t completely close the door on it, but the company has no plans to tax winners in the near future.

DraftKings says it will impose the surcharge beginning 1 January 2025.

DraftKings is the second-biggest US operator by market share. The only company ahead of it is FanDuel, which declined to comment on the topic. FanDuel’s parent company, Flutter, is set to release sec..

August 2, 2024

Bettors, analysts say “no thanks” to DraftKings’ surcharge idea

US sports betting operators have long been grappling with ways to navigate increasingly high tax rates. But DraftKings' new idea isn't sitting well with bettors or analysts.
DraftKings spurred debated among the wagering community on Thursday (1 August) when it announced plans to implement a gaming surcharge for players in high tax states.

In its Q2 business update, the company said it has “plan to address high tax states”. That is to “roll out a gaming tax surcharge” starting 1 January 2025. This will be applied to winning bets “in any state with a tax rate above 20% that has multiple sports betting operators”. Those criteria currently apply to New York, Illinois, Vermont and Pennsylvania.

New York’s tax rate is 51%, Pennsylvania is 36% and Vermont is 20%. Illinois recently implemented a sliding scale that caps out at 40% for the highest-earning operators. The bottom of the scale is 20%.

DraftKings asserted the surcharge will be “fairly nominal to the customer”. The only ..

July 31, 2024

Bill to repeal US gambling excise tax filed

On Wednesday (31 July) a pair of US senators filed a bill calling for the repeal of the US federal excise tax on gambling. The 0.25% excise tax on the amount of any legal wager is levied above and beyond state taxes.
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi) filed the bill. Called the “Withdrawing Arduous Gaming Excise Rates Act,” the acronym is “the WAGER Act.” The American Gaming Association (AGA), a trade group, almost immediately came out in favour of the bill. The legislation, the AGA said, would save operators tens of millions of dollars per year in taxes.

“The federal sports betting excise tax was enacted more than 70 years ago as a tool to prosecute illegal sports betting operators,” the AGA wrote in a statement. “Today, with sports betting legal in 38 states and Washington DC, this antiquated tax puts legal operators at a competitive disadvantage and rewards illegal offshore bookmakers that pay no federal or state taxes, offer no responsible..

February 2026
Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28

Tag: sports betting tax