Sports betting has gone from banned to a multi-billion dollar American pastime, but as this Newsweek map shows, there are still some states where gambling is not legal.
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the federal ban on sports betting unconstitutional, overturning a 1992 law that effectively banned gambling nationwide and allowing states to set their own laws regarding gambling.
Using data from the American Gaming Association and Forbes Betting, Newsweek compiled a map showing which states currently have legal sports betting and the extent of regulations that apply to the activity.
Currently, 38 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of sports betting.
Eight of these states have retail-only restrictions, meaning gamblers can only place bets at licensed locations, and two, Tennessee and Vermont, only allow online gambling.
The remaining states do not yet allow any form of sports betting, but efforts are underway to change that.
In Texas, all forms of gambling are prohibited by state criminal law, except in land-based casinos operated by Native Americans and certain slot machine establishments.
Overturning it would require an amendment to the state constitution and a two-thirds majority in both the state House and Senate, but there is still significant support for changing the law in 2025, thanks to lobbying led by casino resort company Las Vegas Sands.
Newsweek spoke with GlobalBet founder and CEO Daniel Glover about the differences in U.S. state regulations regarding sports betting.
“Some of the states that are not yet regulated have conservative political climates where gambling in general is viewed negatively,” Glover said. “Lawmakers in these states may be hesitant to pass bills that would expand gambling and make it visible through legal advertising.”
He also mentioned how religion can influence gambling regulation, with Utah being a good example: a large percentage of the state’s population belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which considers gambling “morally wrong” and bans all forms of gambling.
Atlanta Falcons’ Tyler Allgaier (No. 25) is tackled by Kansas City Chiefs’ Nick Bolton (No. 32) and Tershawn Wharton (No. 98) on September 22, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. The American Gaming Association estimates Americans will wager $63.8 billion on unregulated sports betting in 2022. Details Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
However, recent data suggests that legalizing sports betting may not have been a net benefit to the American economy.
The rapid growth of legal gambling since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling has brought a series of negative consequences, including the emergence of what The Washington Post called a “culture of addiction.”
A recent paper by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California explored the economic toll that the 2018 decision took on Americans’ finances.
The researchers found that average credit scores in states that legalized sports betting dropped by about 0.3% in the four years after legalization.
The problem is even more acute in states that allow mobile gambling, where the likelihood of bankruptcy increased by approximately 28% and debt collections increased by 8% in the two years following legalization.
But even in states that have not yet legalized sports betting, Glover argues that online betting remains common due to “lax enforcement” of regulations.
The American Gaming Association estimated that Americans will bet more than $63.8 billion on unregulated sports betting in 2022, causing state governments to lose about $700 million in tax revenue.
“Because the internet is largely open and free, the existence of these platforms encourages people to participate in knowingly illegal activity,” Glover said, arguing that an unregulated market exposes Americans to fraud and cheating, and offers no guarantees of payment or safeguards against problem gambling.
Have a story we should feature? Have a question about this article? Contact us at LiveNews@newsweek.com.
