About this reference: sources, methods and corrections

Legal Sports Betting is a state-by-state reference to the law on sports betting in the United States. It answers one practical question for each of the 50 states and Washington, DC: can you legally place a sports bet here, through which channels, from what age, and with which sportsbooks? It is published without individual bylines.

What we track

Each jurisdiction has one record: the statute, compact or constitutional provision that authorizes betting; the dates it was enacted and took effect; the first retail and online bets; the minimum age by channel; the regulator and its register of licensed sportsbooks; event restrictions such as limits on college betting; recent bills; and the state's problem gambling resources. The homepage map, the table, the state answers, the sportsbook lists and the downloadable CSV are all generated from these records, so they cannot contradict each other.

Where the facts come from

1. LawStatutes, enacted bills, constitutions and tribal-state gaming compacts.
2. RegulatorsState regulators and lotteries: licensing registers, launch notices and rules.
3. LegislaturesOfficial legislature pages for the status of bills.
4. OperatorsOnly for their own brand and website, checked against the regulator.
5. NewsOnly where an official page could not be reached; those records carry a lower confidence rating in the download.

Every fact in a record is stored with the page it came from and the date it was checked. The records cite 380 distinct source pages and were last checked October 20, 2026. When the records and a state's own register disagree, the register wins.

What the statuses mean

Online and in person

Licensed sportsbooks take bets both through apps or websites and at retail counters or kiosks. Online betting is statewide unless the state says otherwise, as Louisiana does with parishes that voted against it.

Online only

The state licenses mobile and online sportsbooks but has no retail sportsbooks, as in Tennessee and Vermont.

In person only

Bets can be placed only at licensed venues such as casinos or racetracks. Some of these states allow a phone app, but only while you are on the premises.

In person at tribal casinos only

There is no commercial market; tribes offer sports betting on their own land under gaming compacts with the state.

Legal, not yet launched

A law has been enacted but no licensed sportsbook has taken a bet. A bill that has only been introduced or passed one chamber does not count.

Not legal

No channel is authorized. Daily fantasy contests or prediction markets offered in such a state are not sports betting under state law, and each state guide explains where they stand.

What each field in the records means

The launch date is the day the first licensed sportsbook accepted a bet in that channel, not the day the law was signed. The minimum age is the age set by statute, regulation or tribal compact for that channel; where commercial and tribal venues differ, both are noted. The sportsbook list includes only brands the regulator shows as licensed and currently accepting bets; licensed brands that have not launched or have closed are left out. The regulator is the body that issues sports wagering licenses, which in several states is the lottery rather than a gaming commission. Each guide page adds the history, pending bills, taxes and help resources for one state, drawn from the same records.

About the images

The picture of a sportsbook lounge behind the headline at the top of every page was made with an AI image tool. It does not show a real venue or real people, and it is labelled as AI-generated three ways: a small "AI" mark on the image, a note in its alternative text, and a marker in the image file's own data. The same picture appears in link previews, with the "AI" mark printed on it.

Every other photograph on the site is a real photograph from Wikimedia Commons, published under the license named in its credit line, which also gives the work's title and its author. Sportsbook logos are the operators' own artwork. The AI-generated picture keeps its AI marker in every copy of the file; each photograph names its source in the credit line next to it.

How the site makes money

This website is an independent affiliate marketing service. When you follow a "Play Here" link to a sportsbook and open an account, we may receive a commission. That does not decide which sportsbooks appear: a brand is listed for a state only if that state's regulator shows it as licensed and taking bets, whether or not we have an arrangement with it. Where a regulator publishes no usable list, as in Nevada and Louisiana, the state has no sportsbook list on this site rather than a guessed one. Pennsylvania is covered with its legal status, dates and regulator only. We never list offshore or unlicensed sites.

Corrections

State rules change, and registers change between our checks. When a correction is needed, the record is updated at the source and every page that uses it changes at the same time; the check date on the record moves with it. A change of legal status, a minimum age or an operator list is corrected in the record itself, so the map, table, guides and download all show the new value together.

What this site is not

This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and not a sportsbook: we take no bets and hold no customer accounts. For a question about your own situation, the regulator in your state is the authority.