Is sports betting legal in South Dakota?
Yes, but only in person. State law requires every sports bet to be placed on the premises of a licensed gaming establishment in Deadwood, and tribal casinos can take bets under amended compacts with the state. There's no statewide mobile betting. You must be 21, and the South Dakota Commission on Gaming, part of the Department of Revenue, regulates the Deadwood books.
Where you can bet
Legal Sports Report's South Dakota page, updated September 11, 2026, lists nine Deadwood sportsbooks, including BetMGM at Cadillac Jack's and at Tin Lizzie, BetLodge at The Lodge at Deadwood, Dale's at the Holiday Inn Resort Deadwood Mountain Grand, Mineral Palace, Mustang Sally's and Gold Dust. BettingUSA's list is shorter, at six. In eastern South Dakota, Dakota Nation Gaming runs sportsbooks at Dakota Sioux Casino in Watertown and Dakota Connection in Sisseton. Its third book, at Dakota Magic Casino, sits just across the line in North Dakota.
A Deadwood casino can hold money for you in an advance deposit account, but the statute still requires each bet funded from it to be placed on casino premises (SDCL 42-7B-4 and 42-7B-79). Sports wagering pays the same tax as other Deadwood gaming: 8% of adjusted gross proceeds under 42-7B-28 plus an extra 1% under 42-7B-28.1, for 9% in total. Under 42-7B-82, books can't take bets on high school or minor league games, on any individual college athlete's performance, or on any college game involving a South Dakota school.
How South Dakota legalized sports betting
Deadwood gaming, 1988 to 2019
Article III, section 25 of the state constitution bars the Legislature from authorizing games of chance except as the section allows, so every expansion of gambling has needed a constitutional amendment. Voters approved an initiated Amendment B in November 1988 with 64.3% of the vote, allowing limited card games and slot machines in Deadwood with the net municipal proceeds going to historic restoration. The Legislature passed the enabling law in 1989, and Deadwood's casinos opened on November 1 of that year. Voters raised the $5 bet limit to $100 on November 7, 2000. The Legislature raised it to $1,000 in 2012, and Amendment Q, approved November 4, 2014, added roulette, keno and craps.
Amendment B (2020) and SB 44 (2021)
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting ban in Murphy v. NCAA on May 14, 2018. South Dakota's first step was Senate Joint Resolution 501. It was introduced January 30, 2020, passed the Senate 24 to 10 on February 11 and the House 36 to 27 on March 3, 2020. As Constitutional Amendment B, it passed on November 3, 2020 with 58.47% of the vote, adding wagering on sporting events to the games the Legislature may allow in Deadwood. The official explanation noted that, under federal law, any game allowed in Deadwood would also be open to on-reservation casinos once tribal compacts were amended.
The Department of Revenue asked for Senate Bill 44, which wrote sports wagering licenses and betting rules into chapter 42-7B. The Senate passed it 32 to 2 on February 9, 2021, and the House passed it 58 to 8 on March 4. KELOLAND reported that Gov. Kristi Noem signed it March 18, and it became 2021 Session Laws chapter 189, effective July 1, 2021. Two broader bills didn't make it out of House committees that February. HB 1211, which would have allowed kiosk betting in bars tied to Deadwood casinos, was deferred 9 to 4 on February 22. HB 1231, which would have allowed statewide mobile betting through Deadwood casinos, was deferred 11 to 1 on February 23. The Commission proposed its first sports wagering rules in April 2021, and Deadwood casinos took their first sports bets on September 9, 2021.
Tribal compact amendments, 2021 to 2024
The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate's 2021 amendment added sports wagering to its compact. It requires tribal rules at least as strict as SDCL chapter 42-7B and the Commission's rules. The Interior Department approved sports wagering amendments for the Oglala Sioux Tribe on April 8, 2022, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on April 19, 2022 and the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe on June 7, 2022. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe's new compact, which covers sports wagering, was considered approved after Interior declined to act on it within the 45 days federal law allows; Interior's letter is dated March 11, 2024.
Mobile betting attempts, 2022 to 2026
In 2022, SJR 502, a mobile betting amendment, passed the Senate 18 to 17 on February 7 but didn't survive House State Affairs, which deferred it 10 to 3 on February 25. HB 1148, which would have allowed betting at affiliated businesses, was deferred 9 to 4 that same session. In 2023 the House rejected HJR 5006 by a vote of 28 to 41 on February 16, and a Senate committee tabled SB 209, a bar betting bill, 9 to 0. SJR 507 was tabled 8 to 0 in Senate Commerce and Energy on February 13, 2025.
SJR 504 (2026), from Sen. Casey Crabtree and Rep. Greg Jamison, would have let the Legislature allow mobile betting from anywhere in the state through platforms run by or with a licensed casino, with servers in Deadwood, and would have sent 90% of the tax to property tax relief. The Senate passed it 23 to 10 on February 11, 2026. At the House State Affairs hearing on February 25, a do-pass motion failed 6 to 7 and the committee then deferred the resolution 11 to 2. John Pappas of GeoComply testified that the company had logged 1.6 million geolocation checks from 55,000 accounts trying to reach sportsbooks that are legal in other states. With SJR 504 dead, there's no sports betting question on the November 3, 2026 ballot. A separate 2025 resolution, HJR 5003, asks voters that day whether to require 60% approval for future constitutional amendments.
Sports betting court cases in South Dakota
We found no lawsuit challenging Amendment B, SB 44 or a sports wagering license, and a CourtListener search on September 25, 2026 found no prediction market case filed in South Dakota's federal court. The two cases below shaped the rules tribal and Deadwood betting work under.
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. South Dakota (1993)
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe sued the state in April 1992 in the U.S. District Court for South Dakota (Civ. 92-3009), claiming it had refused to negotiate a gaming compact in good faith under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the denial of the tribe's motions on August 23, 1993 (Nos. 93-1224 and 93-1521, 3 F.3d 273). It held that the state need not negotiate traditional keno when state law allowed only video keno, and that it could hold tribes to the $5 bet limit then set by state law. Under that reading, a tribe in South Dakota can compact only for games state law permits, which is why the 2020 ballot explanation tied tribal sports wagering to compact amendments after Deadwood gained it.
Poppen v. Walker (1994)
On June 22, 1994 the South Dakota Supreme Court held that video lottery was a "game of chance," not a "lottery," under Article III, section 25, and so wasn't authorized by the constitution (No. 18374, 520 N.W.2d 238). It reversed the trial court and ordered judgment for the challengers. A concurring justice wrote that about $60 million in video lottery revenue for state programs would be lost. Section 25 now expressly allows state-run "video games of chance," as the current text reprinted in SJR 504 shows.
Prediction market cases that reach South Dakota
South Dakota isn't a party to any prediction market suit. Attorney General Marty Jackley joined the brief of Ohio, New Jersey and 37 other states filed March 10, 2026 in the Ninth Circuit's Nevada appeals (Nos. 25-7187, 25-7516 and 25-7831). He also joined the 38 attorneys general who backed Massachusetts in its suit against Kalshi before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, a brief New York announced April 24, 2026.
On April 6, 2026 the Third Circuit ruled for Kalshi against New Jersey, finding a reasonable chance that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state law. The Ninth Circuit split from it on August 28, 2026, ruling against Kalshi in Nevada and holding that its sports contracts likely aren't swaps. New Jersey's petition for Supreme Court review is No. 26-299, and Robinhood and Crypto.com have petitions pending from Nevada (Nos. 26-338 and 26-344).
South Dakota is in the Eighth Circuit, which hasn't ruled on preemption, and its district courts have split. In Minnesota, Judge Katherine Menendez granted preliminary injunctions on July 27, 2026 to the United States (for the CFTC), Kalshi and Polymarket US against a state ban on prediction markets (Nos. 0:26-cv-02661, 0:26-cv-02778 and 0:26-cv-02841). In Iowa, Judge Stephen Locher denied Kalshi an injunction on September 8, 2026 (KalshiEX LLC v. Bird, No. 4:26-cv-00109). Kalshi appealed, the Eighth Circuit docketed the case as No. 26-2874, and Kalshi's opening brief is due November 6, 2026. A decision in that appeal would bind federal courts in South Dakota.
Prediction markets and daily fantasy
South Dakota hasn't sent a cease-and-desist letter to any prediction market or sued one, and no 2026 bill addressed them, based on our review of the Legislature's bill list. Missouri, also in the Eighth Circuit, announced cease-and-desist letters to six sports event contract operators on September 18, 2026. CBS Sports' state guide, dated September 24, 2026, lists South Dakota as live for sports prediction markets. Deadwood Gaming Association president Caleb Arceneaux told the House committee in February that sports betting already happens in the state through offshore operators and prediction markets that lack consumer protection rules. Novig (Ludlow Exchange, LLC, designated a CFTC contract market June 16, 2026) is open to South Dakotans 21 and older with ID, since its eligibility page excludes only Nevada, Arizona and Michigan, and it builds no vig into prices and charges no fee on pregame straight trades.
No South Dakota statute governs paid daily fantasy sports. The apps operate in the state, and BettingUSA reports that authorities haven't pursued them under the gambling laws.
Help with a gambling problem
South Dakota Problem Gambling Helpline: 1-888-781-HELP (1-888-781-4357).
Sources
SDCL 42-7B-4, gaming definitions including advance deposit sports wagering
South Dakota sportsbooks and daily fantasy status (BettingUSA)
South Dakota Amendment B, Gambling in Deadwood (1988), Ballotpedia
Sports wagering rules for Deadwood casinos are on the way (KELOLAND)
South Dakota lawmakers dump two sports betting bills (Sports Handle)
Interior approval of the Oglala Sioux Tribe sports wagering amendment, April 8, 2022
Interior approval of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sports wagering amendment, April 19, 2022
Interior approval of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe sports wagering amendment, June 7, 2022
Interior letter on the Rosebud Sioux Tribe compact, March 11, 2024
State Senate advances mobile sports betting measure (South Dakota Searchlight)
South Dakota online sports betting rejected in House (iGaming Business)
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. South Dakota, 3 F.3d 273 (8th Cir. 1993)
Amicus brief of Ohio, New Jersey and 37 other states, Ninth Circuit, March 10, 2026
KalshiEX LLC v. Ellison, No. 0:26-cv-02778, D. Minn. docket (CourtListener)
Minnesota prediction market ban put on hold by federal judge (MPR News)
KalshiEX LLC v. Bird, No. 4:26-cv-00109, S.D. Iowa docket (CourtListener)
Eighth Circuit briefing schedule, Supreme Court petitions and Missouri letters (The PM Pulse)