Key takeaways

• First bet after the federal ban fell: Delaware took a single-game bet on June 5, 2018, three weeks after the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in Murphy v. NCAA on May 14, 2018.

• Nevada: Licensed sportsbooks have operated since 1949, and phone betting has been approved since 2010.

• Busiest year: 12 states took their first legal bets in 2021, more than any other year.

• Online: 31 states and D.C. allow statewide online betting. Eight states allow retail betting only, and Tennessee and Vermont are online only.

• Most recent launch: Missouri went live with retail and online betting on December 1, 2025. Rhode Island's second app, from Bally's, can't launch before November 26, 2026.

Sports betting launch dates in every legal state

Sports betting is legal in 39 states and D.C. All of them except Nevada took their first legal bet after May 14, 2018, when the Supreme Court decided Murphy v. NCAA and ended the federal ban that had confined single-game betting to Nevada since 1992. The table lists each market in the order of its first legal bet. "Legalized" is the date the governor signed the law, the date voters approved a ballot measure, or the tribal compact that allows it. A state that has only tribal or casino sportsbooks is listed as retail only, even where a casino app works on the premises.

The 2018 first wave

Seven states took their first legal bets in 2018. Delaware went first on June 5, 2018, at its three racino sportsbooks. It needed no new law, because the Sports Lottery Act Gov. Jack Markell signed in 2009 was already on the books, and Delaware was one of the states PASPA had exempted for the parlay cards it ran in 1976. New Jersey, the state that won the case, signed its law June 11 and took its first bets at Monmouth Park and the Borgata on June 14. DraftKings took the first online bet outside Nevada there on August 1, in an invite-only soft launch.

Mississippi's 2017 fantasy sports law had already repealed the state's ban on betting on events held away from casino premises, so Beau Rivage and Gold Strike opened books at noon on August 1, 2018. West Virginia followed on August 30, New Mexico's Santa Ana Star Casino took the first tribal bet on October 16, Pennsylvania's Hollywood Casino at Penn National opened on November 15, and Rhode Island's Twin River opened on November 26.

2019 to 2020

Eleven states and D.C. launched in these two years, most of them with online betting built into the law from the start. Iowa and Colorado opened retail and online on the same day. Indiana took retail bets September 1, 2019, and mobile bets a month later. In New Hampshire, DraftKings started taking phone bets on December 30, 2019, eight months before the state's first retail book opened in Seabrook.

Arkansas and New York opened casino books in July 2019 without statewide online betting. Arkansas voters had approved casinos in 2018, and New York's 2013 casino law covered sports wagering at the four upstate casinos. New York's mobile market waited for the 2021 budget and launched January 8, 2022, and Arkansas online betting began in March 2022, when Southland Casino opened its Betly sportsbook in web browsers.

Illinois opened on March 9, 2020, Montana's lottery kiosks went live the same week, and Michigan's Detroit casinos followed on March 11, the night the NBA suspended its season. Tennessee launched November 1, 2020, as the first state with online-only betting and no retail sportsbooks.

The 2021 to 2022 wave

In 2021, 12 states took their first legal bets, starting with Virginia's online launch on January 21 and Harrah's Cherokee in North Carolina on March 18. Wyoming's first apps went live on September 1. Arizona, South Dakota and Washington all took their first bets on September 9, the night of the NFL opener, when the Northern Arapaho Tribe also opened Wyoming's first retail book at Wind River. Connecticut, Louisiana, Florida, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Maryland followed by year's end. Florida's Hard Rock Sportsbook app ran from November 1 until December 4, when the Seminole Tribe suspended it after federal courts ruled against its compact. Wisconsin and North Dakota allow only tribal casino betting, and Maryland's online books waited until November 23, 2022.

Kansas was the only new state in 2022, opening retail and online on September 1. New York, Louisiana, Arkansas and Maryland added online betting that year.

Recent launches, 2023 to 2026

Ohio launched retail and online at once on January 1, 2023. Massachusetts opened casino sportsbooks on January 31 and apps on March 10, Nebraska's WarHorse Casino Lincoln took the state's first bet on June 22, and Kentucky's Churchill Downs opened on September 7 with apps three weeks later. Maine's two tribal-partnered apps went live on November 3, 2023, and its first retail book opened in September 2024 at Oddfellahs, a Portland bar partnered with Caesars Sportsbook.

Florida's app returned as Hard Rock Bet, with limited early access, on November 7, 2023, after federal courts upheld the Seminole compact, and the tribe's first casino sportsbooks opened on December 7. Delaware added online betting through BetRivers with a soft launch on December 27, 2023. Vermont's three apps went live at midnight on January 11, 2024, and North Carolina's statewide apps opened at noon on March 11, 2024, three years after Harrah's Cherokee started taking tribal bets.

Missouri is the most recent state to launch. Voters approved Amendment 2 on November 5, 2024, by 2,961 votes, and eight apps and the state's casinos went live on December 1, 2025. Operators are still entering established markets. FanDuel and DraftKings went live in Arkansas on March 20, 2026, and the Rhode Island Lottery picked Bally's in May 2026 for the state's second online sportsbook, which can't go live before November 26, 2026, when IGT's exclusive contract ends.

States without legal sports betting

Eleven states have no legal sportsbook: Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. In the legal states, Nebraska voters decide on online betting on November 3, 2026, and Wisconsin's 2025 Act 247, signed April 9, 2026, allows tribal apps statewide, though none had launched by late September 2026. CFTC-regulated prediction markets, which state gaming laws don't license, offer sports contracts in many states without sportsbooks; Novig, for one, lists every state except Nevada, Arizona and Michigan as eligible. The state guides index tracks each state's status and pending bills.

FAQ

When did sports betting become legal in the US?

The Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on May 14, 2018, in Murphy v. NCAA, leaving each state to decide. Delaware took the first single-game bet outside Nevada on June 5, 2018.

Which state was first to legalize online sports betting?

Nevada approved phone betting through casino apps in 2010. New Jersey was the first state outside Nevada to take online bets, on August 1, 2018, with West Virginia next on December 27, 2018.

What was the most recent state to launch sports betting?

Missouri, on December 1, 2025. Vermont and North Carolina launched in early 2024.

When did North Carolina sports betting start?

Tribal sportsbooks at Harrah's Cherokee opened March 18, 2021. Statewide mobile betting started at noon on March 11, 2024. See the North Carolina guide.

Which states allow only in-person sports betting?

Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin. In several of them, including Mississippi and Montana, a casino or lottery app works only on licensed premises.

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).