Key takeaways

• Tribe-run states: In Washington, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wisconsin, every legal sportsbook belongs to a tribe and you have to be on tribal land to bet. Florida is the only state where one tribe holds exclusive statewide rights, with every phone bet routed to servers on its land.

• Arizona and Connecticut: Tribes share the market with pro teams in Arizona and with the state lottery in Connecticut. In both states, tribal licensees run apps that work statewide.

• No sports betting: Tribes in California and Oklahoma run casinos but can’t take sports bets, because state law and their compacts don’t allow it.

• Ages: Florida, Arizona, Connecticut and New Mexico require bettors to be 21. Washington’s compacts set 18, North Dakota’s set 19, and Wisconsin’s set 21 for most tribes and 18 for two.

• Phone betting: Among the states in this guide, outside Florida, Arizona and Connecticut, a tribal app works only inside the casino or reservation. CFTC-regulated prediction markets operate statewide in most of these states, and several tribes are suing to stop them on their land.

How tribal sports betting works

Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, casino-style gambling on tribal land, which federal rules define to include “any sports betting,” requires a compact between the tribe and its state. After the Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting ban in Murphy v. NCAA in May 2018, tribes in several states amended those compacts to add sportsbooks. In states that never passed a commercial sports betting law, the tribes are the only legal books.

IGRA covers gaming on Indian lands, so a tribal sportsbook can take bets only from people on tribal land unless the state agrees to treat a bet placed elsewhere as happening on the tribe’s servers. Florida is the one state where that arrangement has survived in court and runs statewide. Arizona and Connecticut got to statewide mobile betting another way, with state laws and amended compacts that license tribes alongside teams or the state lottery. In the other tribe-run states here, a bettor at home on the couch has no legal sportsbook option. The state guides index lists every state’s status.

States where tribes run sports betting

Florida: the Seminole Tribe and Hard Rock Bet

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe signed a compact on April 23, 2021, and the Legislature ratified it that May. The Interior Department didn’t act within its 45-day review window, so the compact was “considered to have been approved” in August 2021. The compact gives the tribe exclusive rights to sports betting statewide under a model the tribe and state call “hub and spoke”: a bet placed from a phone anywhere in Florida is deemed placed on tribal land, where the servers sit.

That arrangement spent two years in court. A federal judge in Washington vacated the compact in November 2021, and the tribe’s app stopped taking bets in early December of that year. The D.C. Circuit reversed in June 2023, the Supreme Court refused to block the compact on October 25, 2023, and Hard Rock Bet came back that November. The Supreme Court denied the challengers’ petition for review on June 17, 2024, and the Florida Supreme Court dismissed a separate state-law challenge on March 21, 2024. Hard Rock Bet is the only legal sportsbook app in the state, and the compact requires bettors to be 21. The Florida guide has the full history.

Washington: on-premises only

Washington’s House Bill 2638, signed March 25, 2020, lets tribes add sports wagering to their compacts and limits it “to tribal casinos.” The compact appendix requires a geofence so that every mobile wager is placed on the casino’s premises, and the Gambling Commission’s rules say the same. A phone bet from anywhere else is still illegal, and sending gambling information over the internet is a class C felony under RCW 9.46.240. The Gambling Commission lists 21 tribes with sports wagering appendices.

The appendix sets the minimum age at 18, and some casinos choose 21, so check before you drive. Senate Bill 6137, effective June 11, 2026, opened bets on Washington college teams while keeping individual in-state college athletes off the board. The Washington guide covers the casino list.

New Mexico, North Dakota and Wisconsin

New Mexico has no sports betting statute. Tribes run sportsbooks under their Class III compacts, which cover every game in the federal Class III definition and bar anyone under 21 from playing. Santa Ana Star took the first bet in October 2018. There’s no mobile betting, and the state gets no share of sportsbook revenue, because compact revenue sharing is figured on gaming machines.

North Dakota’s five tribes signed amended compacts that took effect December 19, 2022. They added “sports book events wagering,” allowed mobile gaming by bettors physically on the reservation, and lowered the gambling age on reservations from 21 to 19, with an 18 exception for military ID holders. Individual casinos can set a higher age. Governor Doug Burgum refused the tribes’ request for statewide mobile betting that year, saying a clear legal path didn’t exist.

Wisconsin’s first tribal sportsbook opened at Oneida Casino in Green Bay on November 30, 2021, and more tribes have added betting since. Gov. Tony Evers signed 2025 Wisconsin Act 247 on April 9, 2026, which lets tribes take mobile bets from anywhere in the state through servers on tribal land. Each tribe still needs an amended compact approved by Interior, and no statewide app had launched as of October 13. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau reports a minimum gaming age of 21 under most compacts and 18 under the Lac Courte Oreilles and Sokaogon compacts.

Arizona: tribes and teams share the market

Arizona’s 2021 law and compacts split event wagering licenses between pro teams and tribes, and licensees take bets statewide on a phone. The Arizona Department of Gaming’s operator list shows the split: Desert Diamond belongs to the Tohono O’odham Nation, Hard Rock Digital partners with the Navajo Nation, bet365 with the Ak-Chin Indian Community and Fanatics with the Tonto Apache Tribe, while FanDuel, BetMGM and Caesars partner with the Suns, Cardinals and Diamondbacks. State law bars licensees from taking a bet from anyone under 21. The Arizona guide lists every operator.

Connecticut: two tribes and the lottery

Connecticut’s 2021 gaming law created master wagering licenses that only three entities can hold: the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, the Mohegan Tribe and the Connecticut Lottery. Each tribe’s license covers one online sportsbook, one online casino and fantasy contests. The Department of Consumer Protection names the three apps: DraftKings through Foxwoods, which the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation owns, FanDuel through the Mohegan Tribe’s Mohegan Sun, and Fanatics through the Connecticut Lottery. Online betting went live statewide in October 2021, and the minimum age is 21.

California and Oklahoma: casinos, no sportsbooks

California’s tribes run casinos, but Penal Code 337a bans sports wagering and voters rejected Proposition 26, which would have allowed it at tribal casinos, in 2022. Oklahoma’s tribes run Class III games under the State-Tribal Gaming Act, which excludes sports wagers. The tribes backed HB 1047 to change that, and it failed in the Senate 21 to 27 on April 22, 2026.

Where prediction markets fit

In the tribe-run states without statewide mobile betting, a phone bet at home isn’t available from any sportsbook. Sports contracts on CFTC-regulated prediction markets are the main exception, and tribes have gone to court to keep them off their land. The Ninth Circuit held on September 16, 2026, in Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi, that two California tribes are likely to show Kalshi’s sports contracts entered on their lands are Class III gaming offered without a compact. Four New Mexico tribes sued Kalshi in May 2026 on the same theory, and a federal judge in Wisconsin held in May 2026 that the Ho-Chunk Nation is likely to win a similar claim.

Novig, operated by Ludlow Exchange, LLC, a CFTC designated contract market since June 16, 2026, lists every state except Nevada, Arizona and Michigan as eligible, and it requires users to be 21. In North Dakota and New Mexico that covers the whole state, and in New Mexico a September 2 federal court order records the state’s agreement not to bring enforcement over its sports contracts while a stay runs to August 2027. Washington’s Gambling Commission says event contracts aren’t authorized in the state, and Ludlow is suing the state over it, so check the app before assuming access. Wisconsin’s attorney general has sued several other platforms, and Ludlow has filed its own preemption suit there.

Federal challenges to the Florida and Washington compacts both failed, so tribal books rest on settled law. The prediction market cases are still open.

FAQ

How can I bet on sports in Washington state?

In person at a tribal casino with a sportsbook, or on that casino’s app while you’re on its premises. Washington has no statewide mobile betting, and online betting from anywhere else is a felony. The compact appendix sets the minimum age at 18, though some casinos require 21.

Can I use DraftKings or FanDuel in Florida?

No. The Seminole Tribe holds exclusive statewide rights, so Hard Rock Bet is the only legal sportsbook app. DraftKings and FanDuel do appear as brands at tribal casinos in other states, such as Washington, where tribes partner with them.

What’s the legal betting age at tribal casinos?

It depends on the compact. Florida, Arizona, Connecticut and New Mexico require 21. Washington’s compact appendix sets 18, North Dakota’s 2022 compacts set 19, and most Wisconsin compacts set 21, with two at 18. Casinos can set a higher age than their compact.

Is sports betting legal in Oklahoma or California tribal casinos?

No. Oklahoma’s compacts exclude sports wagers, and California tribes can’t take sports bets after Proposition 26 failed in 2022. Residents of both states use daily fantasy apps or prediction markets, or bet in a neighboring legal state while physically there.

Can I bet on my phone in New Mexico?

Only in person. New Mexico’s tribal books don’t offer mobile betting. Prediction markets list sports contracts there, and Novig’s eligibility page includes New Mexico for users 21 and older.

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).