Sportsbook · State guides · Updated August 2026
Sports Betting by State — Legal Status & Best Books (2026)
Where you can legally bet online in the US right now, which sportsbooks are live in each state, what the tax math means for your lines, and what to do if yours hasn’t launched yet. Book rankings first: best sports betting apps.
By Jake Mercer, sports betting analyst — Updated August 2026. 21+.
The 2026 map at a glance
Short answer: some form of legal sports betting is live in 39 states plus DC and Puerto Rico, and roughly 30 states allow full online/mobile wagering. I used to set lines for a living, and the single biggest change since PASPA fell in 2018 isn’t the odds — it’s that more than half the country can now bet from a phone, legally, with a regulator on the other end of a complaint line. Here’s how the map splits in August 2026:
| Status | Count | What it means | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online legal | ~30 states + DC | Full mobile wagering with licensed books, geolocation enforced | NJ, NY, OH, MA, CO, IL, AZ, MD, ME, WV, MO |
| Signed, not launched | 1 | Wisconsin signed online wagering into law in April 2026 — launch still pending | WI |
| Retail only | ~8 states | Legal, but you must bet in person at a casino, racino or tribal property | MS, MT, NE, NM, SD, ND, WA*, WI* |
| No legal betting | ~11 states | No licensed options. Offshore books are unlicensed and unprotected | TX, CA, GA, MN, OK, ID, UT, HI, AL, AK, SC |
*Washington and Wisconsin allow mobile wagering only on tribal lands for now. North Carolina allows in-person tribal betting plus statewide mobile since March 2024. Missouri crossed from “no” to “live” on December 1, 2025. Status lines move every legislative session — we update this page each quarter.
One honest caveat before the details: a sell-side analyst note making the rounds in January 2026 projected zero new states legalizing sports betting or iGaming this year. That’s the base case — the next realistic windows are the 2027 sessions in Texas, Georgia and Minnesota. Plan your bankroll around the map as it is, not as lobbyists promise it will be.
All 50 states plus DC — status, launch date, regulator
The whole country in three tables. Book counts move every quarter, so read them as market depth. The regulator column matters most — it is who you complain to when a payout stalls.
Live statewide mobile — 31 states plus DC
| State | Online since | Regulator | Mobile books (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Sept 2021 | Dept of Gaming | ~18 |
| Arkansas | Mar 2022 | Racing Commission | 3 |
| Colorado | May 2020 | Division of Gaming | ~20 |
| Connecticut | Oct 2021 | Consumer Protection | 3 |
| Delaware | Dec 2023 | Lottery | 1 |
| Washington DC | 2020 | Office of Lottery & Gaming | 4 |
| Florida | Nov 2023 | Seminole compact / Gaming Control | 1 |
| Illinois | Jun 2020 | Gaming Board | ~10 |
| Indiana | Oct 2019 | Gaming Commission | ~10 |
| Iowa | Aug 2019 | Racing & Gaming | ~17 |
| Kansas | Sept 2022 | Lottery | 6 |
| Kentucky | Sept 2023 | Horse Racing & Gaming | ~7 |
| Louisiana | Jan 2022 | Gaming Control Board | ~7 |
| Maine | Nov 2023 | Gambling Control Unit | 2 |
| Maryland | Nov 2022 | Lottery & Gaming | ~11 |
| Massachusetts | Mar 2023 | Gaming Commission | ~6 |
| Michigan | Jan 2021 | Gaming Control Board | ~12 |
| Missouri | Dec 2025 | Gaming Commission | ~8 |
| Nevada | 2010 | Gaming Control Board | ~7 |
| New Hampshire | Dec 2019 | Lottery | 1 |
| New Jersey | Aug 2018 | Division of Gaming Enforcement | ~15 |
| New York | Jan 2022 | Gaming Commission | 9 |
| North Carolina | Mar 2024 | Lottery Commission | 8 |
| Ohio | Jan 2023 | Casino Control Commission | ~15 |
| Oregon | Aug 2019 | Lottery | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | May 2019 | Gaming Control Board | ~14 |
| Rhode Island | Sept 2019 | Lottery | 1 |
| Tennessee | Nov 2020 | Sports Wagering Council | ~11 |
| Vermont | Jan 2024 | Liquor & Lottery | 3 |
| Virginia | Jan 2021 | Lottery | ~12 |
| West Virginia | Dec 2018 | Lottery | ~6 |
| Wyoming | Sept 2021 | Gaming Commission | ~5 |
Tennessee is online-only. Nevada’s mobile market predates PASPA but still requires in-person activation.
Retail only — 8 states
| State | Legal since | Where you bet | Any app? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | Aug 2018 | Commercial casinos | On-property only |
| Montana | Mar 2020 | Lottery kiosks | On-premises only |
| Nebraska | Jun 2023 | Racinos | No |
| New Mexico | Oct 2018 | Tribal casinos | No |
| North Dakota | 2019 | Tribal casinos | No |
| South Dakota | Sept 2021 | Deadwood, tribal casinos | On-property only |
| Washington | Sept 2021 | Tribal casinos | On-property only |
| Wisconsin | 2021 retail | Tribal casinos | Signed Apr 2026, not launched |
No legal sports betting — 11 states
| State | Where it stands | Next realistic window |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Bills fail by a vote or two | 2027 |
| Alaska | No casinos, no bill | None |
| California | 2022 ballot props lost badly | 2028 at the earliest |
| Georgia | Dies in the Senate | 2027 |
| Hawaii | Near-total gambling ban | None |
| Idaho | Constitutional ban; DFS barred | None |
| Minnesota | Tribal-versus-track split unresolved | 2027 |
| Oklahoma | Tribal compact standoff | 2027 |
| South Carolina | No Senate movement | 2027 |
| Texas | Legislature sits in odd years | 2027 |
| Utah | Constitutional ban | None |
Where a state is mid-legislation I say so. Wisconsin is the clearest case: the law exists, the launch does not, and no date is worth quoting. Deeper reads: Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho, plus is DraftKings legal in Texas.
Quirks that actually affect your bet
Legal status is the headline. These rules change the bet slip itself, and most bettors meet them at 12:55 on a Sunday.
| Quirk | Where | What it does to you |
|---|---|---|
| In-person registration | Nevada | Activate at a casino cage before it funds. Illinois and Iowa repealed theirs |
| Single-operator market | New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, Delaware, Florida | No line shopping; higher hold |
| Tribal exclusivity | Florida, Maine, Connecticut, Washington, New Mexico, North Dakota, Wisconsin | Menu set by compact |
| College player props barred | Ohio, Maryland, Louisiana, Vermont and others after the 2024 NCAA push | College player props vanish |
| In-state college teams barred | New Jersey, Massachusetts (outside tournaments) | Your own school never posts |
| On-premises mobile only | Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Washington | App works on property only |
| Per-wager fee | Illinois, since Sept 2025 | Books answer by raising minimums or shading prices |
| Gross-winnings state tax | Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, West Virginia, Wisconsin | No state-level loss deduction — you can finish down and still owe |
| No state income tax | Nevada, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska | Federal tax still applies |
The big regulated markets — books, tax rates, and what the tax does to your price
Tax rate matters to you even though you never pay it directly. A book taxed at 51% of gross gaming revenue has less room to hang generous lines, run promos, or absorb sharp action than one taxed at 10%. I watched this play out on the desk: when a high-tax state launched, our margin targets there went up, and the promos got stingier. The numbers:
| State | Online since | Tax on operator revenue | What it means for bettors |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Jan 2022 | 51% (highest in the US) | Huge handle — about $1.3B in state tax revenue in 2025 — but promo deductions are banned, so effective offers are thinner |
| Pennsylvania | May 2019 | 36% | Mature market, deep book menu, both sportsbook and online casino legal |
| Illinois | Jun 2020 | Graduated, up to 40% + $0.50 per-wager fee (Sept 2025) | The per-bet fee is a US first — expect books to nudge minimums and parlay pricing |
| New Jersey | Aug 2018 | 13% online | The original post-PASPA market; ~15+ books, aggressive competition, fair lines |
| Ohio | Jan 2023 | 20% | Big launch-day market; sportsbook only — online casino bills (HB 298) still pending |
| Massachusetts | Mar 2023 | 20% online | Clean rules, strict advertising limits, solid book selection |
| Missouri | Dec 2025 | 10% | The newest market — eight online books live at launch, promos still in land-grab mode |
| Colorado | May 2020 | 10% | Low tax, many books; promo deductions being phased out, so bonuses shrink slowly |
Notice the pattern on promo deductions: Arizona, Colorado, Ohio and Virginia are partially or fully curbing the books’ ability to write off promotional spend. Translation from the trading floor: the era of the endless odds-boost feed is peaking, and welcome offers in those states will quietly degrade through 2026–27. Claim good offers while they exist.
State guides — read yours before you deposit
These five get the most search traffic and the most confusion. Each guide covers the current law, the live books (if any), and the realistic timeline:
Texas — the biggest holdout in America
Still no legal sports betting in 2026, and the Texas legislature only meets in odd-numbered years — the next real window is the 2027 session. Casino interest groups are spending heavily, but the Senate remains the wall. What’s legal today (nothing beyond the lottery and horse racing), why the tribal card rooms don’t fill the gap, and why offshore “solutions” carry zero player protection: Texas sports betting.
Oklahoma — tribal compacts are the whole ballgame
Oklahoma has more tribal casinos than almost any state, which is exactly why sports betting keeps stalling: every bill has to renegotiate compact exclusivity, and the tribes and the governor haven’t agreed on a framework since the 2020 compacts were voided. Retail at tribal casinos remains the only serious conversation, and even that isn’t law: Oklahoma sports betting.
Idaho — the strictest constitution in the country
Idaho’s constitution bans most gambling outright, no sports betting bill has ever cleared committee, and daily fantasy is also banned. If you live in Boise, your realistic legal option is a drive to Nevada or Oregon. Full breakdown: Idaho sports betting.
Maine — small, clean, and already live
Legal online since November 2023 under tribal exclusivity — a two-book market (DraftKings and FanDuel) with a 10% tax and fast payouts. Maine also legalized online casino on October 1, 2026 (LD 1164, tribal-exclusive, 18% of adjusted gross revenue), with launch expected late 2026 or early 2027. Details: Maine sports betting.
West Virginia — the quiet veteran
Live since 2019, one of the earliest post-PASPA markets, and one of only seven states where both sportsbooks and real-money online casinos are legal. Five-plus books, reasonable 10% tax, and a regulator that answers emails: West Virginia sports betting.
How sign-up works in a legal state
The process is nearly identical everywhere regulated, and every step exists because a license condition says so:
- Age & location. 21+ in almost every state (18+ in a handful like Montana retail). Geolocation must confirm you’re physically inside state lines at the moment of the bet — a VPN gets accounts closed and balances frozen, and the book is required to do it.
- Verification. Legal name, date of birth, last four of your SSN. That’s the licensing requirement, not the book being nosy. If a “book” doesn’t ask, it’s not licensed.
- Deposit. ACH/bank, debit card, PayPal or Play+. Credit cards are banned for gambling deposits in a growing list of states, and Illinois now adds a $0.50 per-wager fee on mobile bets that some books pass through.
- Bonus opt-in. Read the playthrough before you click — a “$1,500 bonus” can be worth $500 of realistic expectation once you decode it. We do that math for every offer in sportsbook promo codes.
Geolocation — why a legal bet fails at a state line
Licences are granted state by state, so a book must prove every accepted wager came from inside that state. It scores GPS, wifi signatures, cell towers and IP together; low confidence means refusal, because refusing you is cheaper than a licence review. What triggers it:
- A VPN, proxy or remote-desktop session — read as spoofing. Repeat attempts close accounts and hold balances.
- Border bleed — near a state line your phone can attach to a tower or wifi registered across it. The most common false rejection.
- Approximate location permission, a stale desktop plugin, a mock-location app, or campus wifi routed out of state.
The fix takes ninety seconds: kill the VPN, drop wifi for cellular, grant precise location, reopen the app, move a mile inland. On desktop, reinstall the plugin. Still failing where it’s legal? Support can read the logged reason code. Note what this rules out — a site that takes your bet from a banned state has no licence to lose, the whole problem with offshore books.
Before you deposit in a newly launched state — four checks
New markets draw copycat apps and look-alike domains before anyone knows the brand list:
- Open the regulator’s licensee list. Every state above publishes one. Not on it, nothing else matters.
- Match the legal entity, not the brand. Find the operating company in the app’s terms and check it against the licence. Brands get renamed; entities don’t.
- Install from the official listing only. Sideloaded files are the standard vector for cloned apps.
- Check three signals a licensed book can’t skip: it asks for legal name, birth date and the last four of your SSN; it offers ACH or debit, not only crypto; and it shows your state helpline.
Short version of our vetting; the long one sits in how we rate, with verdicts in sportsbook reviews.
If your state isn’t legal yet
Three honest options. One: wait — bills are active or expected in Georgia, Minnesota and Oklahoma for the 2026–27 sessions, and Texas gets its shot in 2027. Two: free-to-play social sportsbooks that award redeemable prizes under sweepstakes law (not the same as a licensed book, and the redemption math shows it). Three: travel to a legal state — your account works anywhere that book is licensed, your state of residence doesn’t matter, and geolocation handles the rest. Nevada is the one quirk: the big national apps don’t operate mobile books there, you register in person.
What we will never recommend: offshore books. No US license means no regulator to complain to when a payout stalls, no segregated player funds, and “bonuses” with 10× rollovers that make regulated offers look generous. The legality breakdown, state by state: is Bovada legal in the US?
FAQ — sports betting legality in 2026
How many states have legal online sports betting in August 2026?
Roughly 30 states plus DC offer statewide mobile wagering. Missouri was the most recent launch (December 1, 2025), and Wisconsin has signed online betting into law but hasn’t launched. Another ~8 states allow retail-only betting, bringing the total with any legal option to 39 states plus DC and Puerto Rico.
Can I bet if I’m just visiting a legal state?
Yes. Your residence doesn’t matter — physical location does. If you’re standing inside New Jersey, Colorado or Ohio with a verified account, you can bet. The moment you cross the state line, geolocation locks the bet slip. Your balance and account stay intact for your next visit.
Is online casino legal in the same states as sports betting?
No — and this trips people up. Real-money iCasino is only live in seven states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island. Maine legalized it in October 2026 for a late-2026/early-2027 tribal launch. Ohio is debating it (HB 298) but hasn’t passed it; Virginia is a possible 2027 story. The casino-side map lives here: online casinos by state.
Do I pay taxes on sports betting winnings?
Yes — gambling winnings are taxable income federally, and books issue a W-2G above certain thresholds ($600 or more at 300× odds for sports wagers). Losses are deductible only up to winnings and only if you itemize. Keep a session log; the books won’t do it for you.
Why are the promos better in some states than others?
Tax and promo-deduction rules. A book paying 51% in New York with no promo write-off runs leaner offers than a book paying 10% in Missouri during a land grab. That’s also why brand-new markets like Missouri have the richest launch offers — they’re buying market share while the deduction math still works.
My bet was rejected but I’m inside a legal state — what happened?
Almost always geolocation, not your account. The app couldn’t confirm your position — usually a VPN, wifi registered next door, or approximate location permission. Drop to cellular, kill the VPN, grant precise location, reopen.
Does a VPN let me bet from a state where it isn’t legal?
No, and it’s the fastest way to lose a balance. Books detect VPNs as a compliance duty, and their terms let them void wagers and hold funds.
Which states give me the fewest books to choose from?
New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, Delaware and Florida are effectively single-operator markets; Maine, Connecticut and Arkansas run two or three. One book means no line shopping, so the hold is whatever that operator decides. See best betting apps.
Affiliate disclosure: MoutonKing may earn a commission if you register with an operator through this page. It never changes a score — read How We Rate.