While online sports betting and online gambling are popular for the American people, it is an interesting fact that both are not yet legal for many states. As it is right now, online gambling and online sports betting are legal in 23 states only. This means that at least half of the country is yet to legalize these forms of gaming.
What are the states that have recently legalized online gambling and online sports betting? On the other hand, what are the upcoming states legalizing online gambling? Read on to find out.
Washington
The state of Washington officially became the 21st state to legalize sports betting. This became official when state governor Jay Inslee signed a bill into law last March 25, 2020. This new law officially made sports betting legal. However, this law does not include legalization of online sports betting as well as online gambling and online casinos.
This means that players living in the state can only play through offshore online casinos for the meantime.
Colorado
The state of Colorado is yet to legalize online gambling, which means there is no online casino that locally operates in the state yet. However, the good news is that the state has recently legalized online sports betting.
Online sports betting is already legal in the state of Colorado, though only through limited online bookmakers. Online sports betting for the state went live on May 1, 2020. Currently, residents of the state of Colorado can wager their bets in online sports through providers DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, BetRivers, Fox Bet and BetMonarch. Other providers and bookmakers are expected to get state approval soon.
Michigan
Online sports betting and online gambling in Michigan could see a start during this year’s fall, if things go as well as planned. The Michigan Gaming Control Board already sent draft registrations for online sports betting and online gambling. The one more thing needed now is stakeholder feedback. Industry trade group IDEA, represented by John Pappas, said that the goal is to get this feedback from stakeholders in a span of two weeks.
However, their worries lie in the stand of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. As it goes right now, people who are campaigning for the approval of online betting and gambling are looking to take advantage of special emergency powers to speed up the process of approval. However, Governor Whitmer already previously expressed that emergency powers should not be used to expedite the process of approval for new laws.
Gamers from Michigan will have to wait and see then.
Louisiana
The state of Louisiana has long been known to be a state that is anti-gambling. Players who live in Louisiana have only played and bet online through offshore casinos and online sports betting platforms. For this taste, the question of online betting and gambling being legal is not just a matter of when but also a big matter of if.
Still, there is hope. The state recently passed two sports betting bills in its Senate, and the bills have gone to a House vote on May 22, 2020. However, these bills do not mention of online sports betting nor online gambling.
The future of other states
During the times of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, many people saw the convenience that online casinos and online sports betting bring, thus leading to a significant increase in the number of players for both genres of online gaming. In line with this, more and more legislators are seeing the revenue that these platforms could bring, should they get legalized and regulated.
Will more states work on legalizing online gambling and online sports betting? One could only hope and expect for the best.
