Which States Will Legalize Online Sports Betting In 2026? Georgia Back On The Table
Which States Will Legalize Online Sports Betting in 2026?
The push to legalize sports betting in Georgia came up short in 2025 for the fifth consecutive year. Supporters of the effort hope for a different outcome in 2026.
If sports betting does not get legalized in Georgia in 2026, a source told bookies.com earlier this year that FanDuel may consider closing its high-tech facility in Atlanta's Ponce City Market. The 68,000 square-foot tech center opened in 2022. As part of a $2.25 million grant received from the state, FanDuel agreed to employ 900 people on the site within 5 years.
That agreement ends in 2027.
Meanwhile, the effort to bring sports betting to Texas goes back on the shelf until 2027. The Texas legislature meets every 2 years. It failed to pass legal sports betting bills in 2021, ’23 and ‘25.
Missouri Lone State To Launch In 2025
For the second time in the 6 years, since PASPA was overturned by the Supreme Court and cleared the way for legalized sports betting nationwide, no state passed legislation to approve legal sports betting in 2025.
Voters passed a Missouri sports betting measure on Election Day in 2024. Retail and online betting became legal on January 1, 2025. Regulators in Missouri have approved 10 sportsbooks ahead of the 12 a.m. December 1 launch.
The “Show Me State” ballot initiative was backed by the state's MLB, NFL, NHL, MLS, and NWSL franchises. Each of those professional teams will be able to "create a retail sports betting location within a district near its stadium” and partner with a "branded online betting platform." The 6 companies with casinos can operate a retail sportsbook and offer an online platform. Two other licenses will be made available to online betting companies that do not partner with either a casino or a professional sports team.
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State-By-State Odds To Legalize Sports Betting In 2026
Here are our hypothetical odds for the following states to legalize sports betting in 2025.
| STATE | ODDS | PROBABILITY |
| Hawaii | +250 | 28.6% |
| Oklahoma | +350 | 22.2% |
| Georgia | +500 | 16.7% |
| Minnesota | +750 | 11.8% |
| South Carolina | +7500 | 1.3% |
| Alabama | +7500 | 1.3% |
| California | +15000 | 0.6% |
| Texas | +50000 | 0.2% |
(These odds are for entertainment purposes only and are not available at legal sports books in the U.S. and Canada.)
State-By-State Breakdown To Legalize Sports Betting In 2026
Hawaii
Two pieces of legislation that would have allowed gambling and online sports betting in the 50th State failed to move in 2025. Under one plan, four online-only operators would pay a 10% tax on gross gaming revenues. The bills would allow regulation of sports wagering by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.
Oklahoma
For the third year in a row, a pair of sports-betting related bills failed to reach Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk in 2025. Stitt remains a vocal supporter of sports betting, as long as it operates in conjunction with the state’s Native American tribes. Supporters expect to be back at it in 2026.
Georgia
A bill that would have legalized sports betting in Georgia failed in the House in 2025 without ever receiving a floor vote. A similar bill failed in a Senate Committee.
Georgia is bordered by three states— Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina — that offer online betting. Strong online markets in all three states failed to offer enough of an incentive to finally reach a deal in 2026.
Two sports-betting related bills in 2025 were filed in the State Senate but that failed to move past the committee stage. Rep. Marcus Wiedower introduced 2 bills (HR 450 and HB 686) that would have legalize gambling in Georgia and allow casino and sports betting. Neither reached the floor for a House vote before the March 6 crossover deadline.
The 2 proposed measures in the House would have taxed sports betting revenues at 20% and allocate 15% of the first $150 million received toward fiscal year toward responsible gaming initiatives and aid those with gambling problems.
The bill would have allowed up to 16 online operators in Georgia. Of those, 5 would be tied to the major professional sports teams in the state, one to Augusta National, one to the PGA Tour, and one to Atlanta Motor Speedway. The remaining 7 licenses would be untethered and be awarded via public bidding.
Gov. Brian Kemp has been a long-time supporter of legalized betting.
GeoComply said it tracked more than 300,000 attempts made by would-be bettors located in Georgia to legal sports betting sites in neighboring states during the 2024 NFL season.
A poll conducted by the University of Georgia and commissioned by a group backing sports betting in the state found that a majority of Georgians want sports betting legalized.
“There’s a real desire from both people in Georgia and from tourists who are coming to the state to bet on sports,” said Scott Ward with the Sports Betting Alliance
This was the 5th consecutive session in which legislators discussed sports betting without sending a bill to the governor's desk.
Minnesota
Three tries at sports betting legislation in Minnesota failed to reach the governor’s desk in 2025. A bitter partisan divide in the legislature doomed the chances for passage. Sports betting has needed bipartisan support in nearly every state where enacted. A more civil climate in St. Paul could boost chances for sports betting supporters in 2026.
Alabama
The effort to legalize betting in Alabama fell short again in 2025.
It's been 28 years since voters in Alabama rejected a proposed state lottery.
South Carolina
The South Carolina Sports Wagering Act, which would have legalized betting for people 18 and older and impose a 12.5% tax on the net profits of operators, failed in 2025. The proposal allowed up to eight entities to operate online betting in South Carolina, chose by a state commission. However, Gov. Henry McMaster remains adamantly opposed to any gambling legislation. McMaster faces a term-limit ban and cannot run for re-election in 2026. Get back to us in 2027. North Carolina, meanwhile, launched legal sports betting in 2024.
California
The quixotic effort to bring statewide sports betting to California went cold in 2025. The state banned so-called “Sweepstakes Casinos.” Native Tribes, meanwhile, have dug in their fight against prediction markets, as well.
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 legal sports betting apps to be available in California unless a significant change occurs among the state’s Native American tribes.
Mobile betting in California remains a far-off dream for bettors and books alike. Any ballot initiative faces long odds in 2026. A much-publicized $600 million ballot push to pass two sports betting proposals miserably at the polls in 2022. Another ballot effort in 2024 mercifully ended in January. Neither push had 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
The Texas legislature meets every two years. It meets next in 2027. The effort to legalize both gambling and sports betting in the Lone Star State in 2025 never made it out of the House year. That marked the third straight session in which betting bills failed to advance.
Gov. Greg Abbott, however, told the Houston Chronicle he is open to sports betting in Texas.
“I don’t have a problem with online sports betting,” Abbott said. “The reality is that I’d be shocked if there were not some Texans that do it already.”
Any discussion of sports betting in Texas begins and ends with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. As president of the state senate, Patrick wields immense clout. Patrick remains firm that no gaming-related legislation reaches the Senate floor unless it can pass with just GOP votes.
Unless he lands a job in the Trump administration, Patrick will sail to re-election this year and his coalition will tighten its hold on the upper body.
The current timetable for a best-case scenario to legal betting in Texas runs into 2028. Both a constitutional amendment legalizing gambling, and a bill allowing both casino and sports betting, would have to pass the House and Senate in the spring of 2027. After the governor signs each bill, they each head for the November 2027 ballot. If approved in a statewide election, the gaming related legislation would become law on January 1, 2028.
The normal time between legalization and launch in the 39 jurisdictions that have legalized sports betting, however, has averaged between 6 and 8 months. That pegs a live launch of online sports betting sometime just ahead of the 2028 football season.
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