Which states will legalize online sports betting by 2024? Bookies.com examines the field.

For the fourth straight year, the push to legalize sports betting died in the Georgia legislature this year. North Carolina launched in March and is all but certain to be the final state to launch sports betting in 2024. The next sports betting launch may not occur to Q1 of 2025 at the earliest. 

It's been nearly six years since PASPA was overturned by the Supreme Court. The High Court's ruling in the "Murphy vs. NCAA" case cleared the way for legalized sports betting nationwide. 

Since the start of 2023, online sports betting enjoyed a 12-month expansion period that will be unmatched moving forward. 

Ohio, Massachusetts, Florida, Kentucky, Vermont, Maine, and North Carolina have all launched mobile sports betting in the past 12-plus months. 

Florida online sports betting was active briefly in late 2021 before it was shut down by a federal judge. That case was eventually decided by a federal appeals court, allowing the Hard Rock Bet app to return in November. The U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court could still rule on the matter. 

Vermont and Maine going live means all six New England states offer legal, online sports betting. 

Odds To Legalize Sports Betting In 2024

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State-By-State Odds 

Which states will be next to approve legal betting apps? 

It typically takes about six months to a year for a state to launch legal sports betting once it's legalized, given the regulatory hangups. 

With that in mind, here is a look at our hypothetical odds on which states could legalize online sports betting in 2024.

Oklahoma: +300

Gov. Kevin Stitt wanted to legalize sports betting during the 2023 legislative session, but that didn't come to fruition. Oklahoma’s Native American tribes hold exclusive rights to gambling in the Sooner State. In November 2023, Gov. Stitt intended to implement another sports betting plan that excludes the tribes. Meanwhile. Sen. Casey Murdock has filed a bill to legalize sports betting and allow anyone who can afford to, operate a sportsbook in the state. Under Murdock's proposal, Tribes could negotiate sports betting compacts with the governor but would need approval from the Oklahoma Legislature’s Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations.

“I’m most definitely not saying the tribes can’t do it. I’m just saying anybody can do it,” Murdock said. “If Joe Blow wants to start a business and wants to start a sportsbook, I want him to be able to. I didn’t want to put any exclusiveness in this.”

Still, the track record elsewhere says that nothing will happen unless the Tribes are made part of the solution. 

The Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association remains firm in its belief that the state's gaming compacts gives their members exclusive control to all forms of betting.

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Minnesota: +500

The "Minnesota Sports Betting Act 2.0" would legalize sports betting. It follows a proposal to allow Minnesota sports betting that failed to in the legislature in 2023. The latest proposal, authored by Sen. Jeremy Miller, allows the state's 11 tribal nations to operate sports books, with an option to partner with racetracks and professional sports teams. Net gaming revenues would be taxed at 10%. 

But a so-called "poison pill" was introduced that would eliminated all live wagering on sports in the state after a Senate Committee approved an amendment banning the practice. SF1949 met its apparent doom in the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee. There, an amendment aimed at fighting problem gambling included the prohibition on live/in-place wagering. The provision was ultimately backed by one of its sponsors, Sen. Matt Klein. Any lack of live betting could make the market prohibitive to operators given the prevalence of live wagering. 

Rep. Pat Garofalo slammed the proposal on "X", formerly known as Twitter.  

“The Minnesota Senate change to (the) sports gambling bill to eliminate in-game wagering is unworkable. No state in the country has that type of ban. If sports gambling is going to happen this session, this poison pill will need to be removed.”

Miller said his bill is both bi-partisan and brings all sides together. "Not every stakeholder is going to get what they want, but with the willingness to work together and compromise, I think we can get it done this year," said Miller. His bill calls for a 15% tax on gross gaming revenues. 

Legislators agreed to increase the tax levy on sportsbooks from 10% to 20%. That would fund smaller charities who would otherwise lose gaming revenues in the new bill. 

No matter what bill clears the legislature, nothing will happen without the support of the state's Indian tribes. 

The Indian Gaming Association supports the latest version. Their backing is essential for any gaming legislation. compromise. All of the states that border Minnesota offer either retail or online betting. 

But now, horse track owners in the state have opposed the bill because it bans so-called historical horse racing. They want either those games and other video card games to continue, or a larger overall cut from sports betting revenue. 

The Minnesota Department of Revenue believes sports betting could generate as much as $400 million for the state within three years. 

Missouri: +750

Deja Vu. A sports betting bill (HB 2331) has cleared a second House Committee. Its odds for passage appear good in the lower body. But its fare remains slim in the Senate. 

Two separate bills have been filed in the state senate. Both bills would permit online sports betting, in addition to retail betting at riverboat casinos. 

Casinos could partner with up to three online operators, while each riverboat casino would be eligible to partner with up to three online operators. Each professional team in the state would also be able to partner with a single mobile operator. The differences between the two pieces of proposed legislation (SB824) and (SB852) concern the rate of taxation on net winnings. And the second bill, offered by Sen. Denny Hoskins, would legalize video lottery terminals (VLTs).

It was that issue, the video lottery terminals, that doomed the push last year. Those stand-alone slot machines are available at gas stations, bars, and convenience stores throughout the state. 

The expected opposition of Hoskins to any bill that does not legalize VTLs leaves chances for the House proposal all but dead.Seven of the eight states that border Missouri have either operational or have legalized sports betting. 

Meanwhile, the state's professional teams are seeking to bypass the legislature and get sports betting legalized by voters via state referendum. 

The St. Louis Blues, Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Current, and St. Louis City SC. have begun a united push to get sports betting on the 2024 ballot. They have begun circulating those 8 different initiatives and gathering signatures. In order to make the state ballot, each initiative must get the signatures of 8% of the registered voters in six of eight Missouri congressional districts and total at least 180,000 valid signatures. 

“Winning for Missouri Education” organizers expect to collect around 300,000 signatures before the May deadline. Thus far, more than 100,000 people have signed the petition. 

The submission deadline is May 5 and the deadline for ballot certification is May 8, 2024.

Both FanDuel and DraftKings are backing the ballot push financially. 

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South Carolina: +5000

A bill to legalize sports betting (HB 3749) remains alive in the 2023-24 legislative session. The bill would allow anyone 18 or over in the state to wager on up to as many eight sports betting apps. The fate of betting in South Carolina could well hinge on how well things go when online betting launches later this spring. But that won't be enough to get it done this year. This would be the fourth time in the past 5 legislative sessions a sports betting bill has been put up in Columbia. 

Alabama +50000

Hopes of legalized sports betting in Alabama being legalized this year were gutted in a Senate committee this week. Two bills that would have put sports betting, casino betting, a state lottery, and parimutuel wagering to voters were approved by the House on February 15. 

A Senate committee removed the sports betting and casino provisions from the bills. Allowing just a lottery and the parimutuel wagering.

HR 151 would have put a proposed amendment to the Alabama Constitution to make gambling legal in front of voters in November. It passed by a 70-32 margin with five more votes than needed for the 3/5ths requirement. 

Th other bill (HB152) would have legalized had it retained its original form:

• Online and retail sports betting
• A state lottery
• Up to 10 casino sites with table games & slot machines

It's been 25 years since voters in Alabama rejected a proposed state lottery. 

Legal betting has the support of Gov. Kay Ivey.

Georgia: Off The Board

Despite having a pair of sports-betting related bills that passed the Georgia Senate, the state legislature adjourned its 2024 session early on March 29 without either bill receiving a vote in the full House.

Neither bill cleared the House Rules Committee. 

Sports betting and casinos would have been put to the voters via a constitutional amendments according to one bill passed the Georgia Senate 41-12 on February 27 with three more votes than the 2/3rds majority required. It was paired with an enabling bill specifying how sports betting would operate that passed earlier in February.

The sports betting enabling bill got rewritten in the House committee. The newer version trimmed funding guaranteed for pre-K and problem gambling programs. That killed any chance of bi-partisan cooperation, which was needed to get the 2/3rds vote required in the House because of the Constitutional amendment requirement. Since the bill never had the votes to pass, it never made its way to the House floor before Sine Die, which fell in the first hour of March 29. 

The bill would have had the Georgia Lottery Corporation oversee sports betting and make sports betting a lottery game. It would allow those 21 and over to wager on professional and collegiate events. Up to 16 sports betting operators would have been allowed. Five to Atlanta’s professional sports teams: the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, Dream, and Atlanta United. The Augusta National Golf Club, the Professional Golf Association, and the Atlanta Motor Speedway would receive one license each.

Seven licenses would be open to sports betting providers through an application process overseen by lottery officials. The lottery corporation also would receive one license.

A Constitutional amendment would have been put to voters in the November general election for both sports betting and casino gaming. That could have cleared the way for sports betting in the Peach State in 2025.

The bill enjoyed the backing of Gov. Brian Kemp. 

It was the fourth consecutive session in which legislators discussed sports betting without sending a bill to the governor's desk. Expect similar a push next year. This year's session was bitten by a partisan divide over voting integrity. That issue should not be on the agenda next year, offering a better chance to get the bi-partisan cooperation needed for passage. 

California: Off The Board

The Golden State holds the Golden Ticket for the growth of sports betting in the United States. California is the nation’s most populous state. But don’t expect sports betting apps to be available there any time soon. 

Mobile betting in California remains a far-off dream for bettors and books alike. A much-publicized, $600 million ballot push to pass two sports betting proposals miserably at the polls in 2022. They lacked the support of the state's Native American tribes. Another effort to get a pair of ballot items passed in 2024 was mercifully ended in January, as it did not have the support of the Native American tribes, either.

"To go back and do another ballot referendum without the Tribes buying in is a fool's errand," long-time gaming lobbyist Bill Pascrell III told bookies.com. Given the amount of money at stake for both the state and the books themselves, the push will continue. But don't expect live, legal, online sports betting in California for several years. 

Texas: Off The Board

A bill to legalize Texas betting apps cleared the full House in 2023 but died in the Senate. Again, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick refused to bring any bill to the floor of the Senate because it lacked enough votes to pass with solely Republican support. 

Legalizing sports betting in Texas requires a constitutional amendment, which is why a two-thirds majority vote and a ballot vote in the November following its passage is necessary.

Texas legislators meet every two years, so Texas sports betting won't be up for discussion again until 2025. A similar effort to legalize sports betting in Texas fell short in 2021. 

Sports betting in Texas got a significant boost when a group including the Adelson family of Las Vegas gaming fame purchased a controlling interest in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. 

The NBA, MLB, NHL, and NBA teams in Texas, along with the PGA Tour, NASCAR, and several other entities formed the Texas Sports Betting Alliance to combine their efforts to get betting up and running in the Lone Star State.

If Texas does allow sports betting, it would become the largest state in the nation to do so with 29.53 million people. Currently, Florida is the most populous state that has sports betting with 21.78 million people. 

North Carolina Last To Launch In March

Online North Carolina sports betting went live statewide on March 11. 

Gov. Roy Cooper said he wanted betting to commence before the start of March Madness on March 19. 

According to the American Gaming Association, sports betting is now legal and operational in 38 states, plus Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. That leaves little room for expansion. But there are multiple states where betting legislation is being considered and/or has been previously proposed. 

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