Key takeaways

• Lottery-run states: In New Hampshire, Oregon, Delaware, Montana and Rhode Island, the state lottery is the sportsbook by law. A private company supplies the app or runs the platform, but the lottery holds the book and takes most of the revenue.

• Apps: Each lottery-run state has one legal app: DraftKings in New Hampshire and Oregon, BetRivers in Delaware, Sports Bet Montana and Sportsbook Rhode Island. Rhode Island has tentatively picked Bally's for a second app that can't launch before November 26, 2026.

• Connecticut: The Connecticut Lottery holds one of the state's three sports betting licenses and runs its book through Fanatics. The two tribes hold the others and run DraftKings and FanDuel.

• Montana is in-person only: Sports Bet Montana's app works only inside a licensed bar, tavern or casino. The other four lottery-run states allow statewide mobile betting.

• Ages: New Hampshire, Montana and Rhode Island set 18. Oregon and Delaware set 21.

• Washington, D.C.: The DC Lottery's GambetDC app was the District's only districtwide sportsbook from 2020 until April 2024. D.C. now licenses private books, and its Office of Lottery and Gaming regulates them.

• Lottery-regulated states: In Kansas and West Virginia, sports wagering is legally a lottery game run by casinos and their app partners. Virginia's and Maryland's lottery agencies regulate private books and run none.

What "lottery-run" means

Most states with legal sports betting license private sportsbooks and tax them. A handful put sports betting inside the state lottery instead. In those states the lottery holds the legal authority to take bets and hires a vendor to run the technology, and the state keeps a revenue share where other states collect a tax. New Hampshire's statute, for example, says the lottery commission "is authorized to operate a sports book" (RSA 287-I:2).

For a bettor, that usually means you'll have one legal app to choose from. It may carry the DraftKings or BetRivers brand, but the age limit and the banned college bets come from lottery rules.

Delaware, Montana and Oregon offered some form of sports lottery or sports pool before 1992, and along with Nevada they were usually described as exempt from the 1992 federal sports betting ban (PASPA). After the Supreme Court struck PASPA down in Murphy v. NCAA in May 2018, Delaware became the first state outside Nevada to take single-game bets, on June 5, 2018. The state guides index lists every state's status.

States where the lottery runs sports betting

New Hampshire: DraftKings through the lottery

New Hampshire passed HB 480 in July 2019, and DraftKings has been the lottery's only agent since mobile betting opened on December 30, 2019. The statute allows up to five mobile agents, and the lottery has used one. DraftKings runs the app and five retail sportsbooks: The Brook in Seabrook, Revo Casino & Social House in Manchester and Dover, and Gate City Casino and The Nash in Nashua.

The state takes 51% of mobile gross gaming revenue and 50% of retail. DraftKings announced a two-year extension in February 2026 that runs the contract to June 30, 2028. The commission asked operators in March 2026 how a multi-operator market would work, but DraftKings is still the only book. You must be 18 and physically in New Hampshire, and you can't bet on a New Hampshire college team or on any college game played in the state.

Oregon: DraftKings Sportsbook as a lottery game

The Oregon Lottery launched its own app, Scoreboard, in October 2019, then replaced it with DraftKings Sportsbook on January 18, 2022. Under Oregon's lottery rules, DraftKings Sportsbook is legally a lottery game: the rules set the minimum age at 21, take bets only digitally, and accept them only from inside Oregon and off tribal land. The lottery app offers pro sports only, because the state has kept college games off it, and a 2022 bill to allow them died.

Tribal casinos such as Chinook Winds in Lincoln City, which took Oregon's first legal bet in August 2019, run their own books on tribal land, and some take college bets.

Delaware: the sports lottery and BetRivers

Delaware's constitution bans gambling outside state lotteries and a few other carve-outs, so a sports bet here is legally a lottery ticket. The Delaware Lottery has taken single-game bets at Delaware Park, Bally's Dover and Harrington Raceway & Casino since June 5, 2018. The lottery picked Rush Street Interactive for online betting in 2023, and BetRivers launched statewide in early January 2024. At sign-up you pick which of the three casinos your account runs through.

The Delaware Lottery requires bettors to be 21 and doesn't take bets on Delaware teams. Sports Pick retailers still sell paper parlay and teaser cards, also at 21 and up.

Montana: Sports Bet Montana, in person only

Gov. Steve Bullock signed HB 725 on May 3, 2019, making the Montana Lottery the state's sports wagering operator, and vetoed a competing bill for private books. Sports Bet Montana terminals went live in March 2020. Intralot runs the system and won a new seven-year contract in 2025.

Montana's statute limits mobile bets to "the physical confines" of a single approved sports wagering facility, checked by location services (MCA 23-7-103). The app therefore works only once you're inside a licensed location, which in practice means a bar, tavern or casino that holds both a lottery license and a gambling operator license. It's the only lottery-run state without statewide mobile betting, and the minimum age is 18.

Rhode Island: Sportsbook Rhode Island and a second app

Rhode Island law directs the state, through its Division of Lotteries, to "implement, operate, conduct, and control" sports wagering at the two Bally's casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton. Retail betting began in November 2018 and the Sportsbook Rhode Island app followed on September 4, 2019, on IGT's platform. By statute, every online bet is accepted by a server at one of the casinos.

Revenue splits by statute: 51% to the state, 32% to the platform vendor and 17% to the host casinos. On May 8, 2026, the lottery tentatively awarded Bally's Corp. a five-year deal for a second app. Terms were still being negotiated at last report, and the lottery says the launch can't come before November 26, 2026, when IGT's exclusivity ends. The minimum age is 18.

Connecticut: the lottery shares the market

Connecticut's 2021 sports wagering law gives the Connecticut Lottery one of the state's three master wagering licenses (Chapter 229b). The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes hold the other two and run DraftKings and FanDuel. The lottery first ran its book through Rush Street Interactive, which left the deal in 2023. Fanatics replaced it as the lottery's exclusive mobile and retail partner and fully launched on December 18, 2023 (Legal Sports Report). Bettors must be 21, and all three apps work statewide.

Washington, D.C.: from a lottery app to private books

D.C.'s 2018 law let the Office of Lottery and Gaming run its own app and also license private books at stadiums and bars. The lottery's app, GambetDC, built by Intralot, was the only one allowed districtwide from its May 2020 launch until it closed in April 2024, when FanDuel took over as the lottery's app.

A 2024 budget law opened mobile betting across the District. BetMGM and Caesars went districtwide in July 2024, and DraftKings and Fanatics followed later that year. Caesars took over the betting kiosks at DC Lottery retailers that fall, and the agency now regulates and taxes private books. Bettors must be 18, and apps block bets from federal land.

States where the lottery owns the game but doesn't run it

Several other states route sports betting through the lottery on paper while private operators do the work. Kansas law says the Kansas Lottery "may offer sports wagering through one or more lottery gaming facility managers," including over apps (K.S.A. 74-8781). The state's four casino managers run the books with partners such as DraftKings and Caesars, and the bettor sees a normal multi-app market at 21. West Virginia's code calls every sports bet a "West Virginia Lottery game owned by the State," with the Lottery Commission licensing casinos to run them (W. Va. Code 29-22D-6).

In Virginia and Maryland the lottery agencies only regulate. Virginia's statute says the Lottery Board "shall regulate" sports betting and that the department "shall not operate a sports betting platform or a sports betting facility." Maryland's Lottery and Gaming Control Agency regulates licensed books after a separate commission awards the licenses. In both states private books compete for bettors the way they do in New Jersey.

Where prediction markets fit

Kalshi and other CFTC-regulated prediction markets list sports contracts in New Hampshire, Oregon, Delaware, Montana, Rhode Island and D.C., with no lottery contract and no revenue share to the state. Rhode Island's attorney general sued Kalshi and Polymarket US in May 2026, and Montana's Department of Justice treats sports event contracts as illegal sports wagering, though its Gambling Control Division agreed in September 2026 to hold off on enforcement against Kalshi while a Ninth Circuit petition is pending. New Hampshire, Oregon and Delaware hadn't brought enforcement actions as of late September 2026. Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection ordered Kalshi to stop in December 2025 and sent orders to nine platforms, Novig among them, in September 2026. Novig, which the CFTC designated a contract market as Ludlow Exchange, LLC in June 2026, lists those six as eligible for users 21 and older, three years above the betting age in New Hampshire, Montana, Rhode Island and D.C.

FAQ

How can I bet on sports in Delaware?

In person at Delaware Park, Bally's Dover or Harrington Raceway & Casino, or online through BetRivers anywhere in the state. You must be 21, and you can't bet on Delaware teams. Lottery retailers also sell football parlay cards.

Can I bet on my phone anywhere in Montana?

No. Sports Bet Montana's app only takes bets while you're inside a licensed location, usually a bar or casino with a lottery license. Montana has no statewide mobile sportsbook.

Is DraftKings the only sportsbook in New Hampshire?

Yes. DraftKings is the New Hampshire Lottery's only agent, online and at its five retail books, under a contract that runs to June 30, 2028. The minimum age is 18.

Why can't I bet on college games with the Oregon Lottery app?

The state keeps college games off the lottery's DraftKings Sportsbook, which takes pro bets only, at 21 and up. Some tribal casino books take college bets on tribal land.

When will Rhode Island get a second sportsbook app?

The lottery tentatively picked Bally's in May 2026 and says the app can't launch before November 26, 2026. Until then, Sportsbook Rhode Island is the only legal app, at 18 and up.

You must be 21 or older to bet in most states. Gamble responsibly. If gambling stops being fun, call or text the national helpline at 1-800-MY-RESET (ncpgambling.org).