It was quite the proud moment for the United States when, in May 2018, the Supreme Court overruled the PASPA law, enabling any of the 50 states to create their own sports betting laws. This news came as a wonderful revelation to those locations which had already been fighting for such to be passed through, and once the PASPA law was overturned, various other states got themselves involved in the sports betting sector.
Today, over a third of the United States has legally introduced some form of sports betting to its citizens. The states that have legalised sports betting altogether (but not necessarily yet introduced any platforms for this to occur on) include New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oregon, New Mexico, Arkansas, West Virginia and New Jersey, amongst various others. As it happens, New Jersey was one of the states that was quite active in the attempts to have the PASPA law overturned.
Recent bills for sports betting purposes have also been passed in the states of Washington, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and, the location of Washington D.C. The latter of these occurred on May 3, 2019 after a Congressional review period saw the Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act of 2018 become effective. Congress did not formally object to this at the time, and so the bill proceeded with legalising sports betting in the US capital. Alas, the first sports bets have yet to occur within Washington D.C.
Bills Waiting to Pass in Certain States
Some other US states have introduced sports betting bills, although these have not yet passed through to become effective as law. It is these states where the biggest lack of sports betting occurs, including in locations like Arizona, California, Florida, Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, Massachusetts and North and South Dakota, amongst others. It remains to be seen how many of these states will allow their respective bill introductions to pass through into law.
The only three states where bills have not been introduced are Idaho, Utah and Wisconsin. Utah actually has an anti-gambling law written into its state constitution, and it’s highly unlikely that there will be such a huge departure from the decades of opposition to gambling occurring there. Idaho and Wisconsin, on the other hand, do have laws that prohibit full-blown sports betting. Therefore, such laws would need to be repealed or amended to allow full-scale sports betting to occur within, and it is potentially due to the lengthy process that would need to be undertaken that these two states have not introduced any legislation.
It would definitely be nice for online review sites to have more sports betting platforms to check out and provide information on. The USA is missing out on getting the opportunity to participate in this in many locations, and sites like Silentbet.com have the potential to review platforms and direct bettors to a legitimate and safe online sportsbook. Of course, it’s always nice to see that the country is moving in a more positive direction towards the almost complete legalisation of the activity. It’s hopeful that other states will be able to look at the revenue figures from those locations that already provide such and will recognise what a lucrative industry it can be.
