The push to legalize sports betting in Georgia came up short again this year, so all eyes turn to Texas in terms of major states that could legalize sports betting in 2025. 

The Texas legislature meets every 2 years. It has failed to pass legal sports betting in both 2021 and ’23. Betting bills fell short in Georgia in 2021. 2022, 2023, and 2024. 

A bill that would have legalized sports betting failed in the House before Georgia's crossover day on March 6 without ever receiving a floor vote. A similar bill failed in a Senate Committee. 

For the first 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 2024. That may be the case again in 2025. 

Voters in Missouri narrowly passed a sports betting measure in the “Show Me State” on Election Day. Retail and online betting became legal on January 1. The rules allowing sports betting won't go into effect until September 30, meaning it will be a challenge for operators to launch before the December 1 deadline. 

The Missouri 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.

State-By-State 2025 Odds To OK Sports Betting 

 Here’s a state-by-state breakdown of the states expected to consider sports betting legislation in 2025, along with the odds and probability of passage. 

2025 Sports Betting Legislation Update 

Vermont and Mississippi have seen bills introduced that would reverse legalized sports betting. Meanwhile, Florida is the latest state to flight so-called "sweepstakes" betting sites. A pair of bills introduced in the House and Senate would ban “internet gambling” and “internet sports betting" for operators not covered by the gaming compact between the state and Seminole Tribe passed in 2021. Lawmakers in New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, and Mississippi have also filed bills to end sweepstakes-based betting sites. 

Nebraska is considering legislation that would put online betting on the state ballot in 2026.

GeoComply, on January 15, released a comprehensive study of geolocation checks from 7 states that do not have legal online sports betting: Texas, Nebraska, Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, South Carolina, and Mississippi. It analyzed the unsuccessful attempts made during the NFL regular season by people located in those states to legal betting sites located in neighboring states. 

The company also made estimates of lost tax revenue in those states from not allowing online betting. 

"These states—and their lawmakers—are also forfeiting significant tax revenue. Legalizing sports betting has consistently proven to be a powerful economic driver, with regulated states collectively generating billions of dollars that directly support education, infrastructure, and other essential public services," it said. 

With legalization in Missouri, 39 states, plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico, have legalized sports betting. Those states and DC encompass about 68% of the U.S. population. The two most populous states in the U.S. – California and Texas – remain on the outs. In Florida, which is 3^rd in population, the Seminole Tribe operates a monopoly via the Hard Rock Bet app.  Here's a look at what to expect in 2025. 

State-By-State 2025 Sports Betting Legalization Report

Hawaii

Two pieces of legislation that would allow online sports betting have cleared their committees in the House and Senate. The full House has passed HB 1308. And it was approved by the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee on March 25. 

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 

Oklahoma’s Native American tribes hold exclusive rights to gambling in the Sooner State. Gov. Kevin Stitt has tried for 2 years to forge a consensus to work with the Tribes to get a bill passed. He failed again in 2024. 

The Oklahoma Senate on March 25 approved the-so-called “Thunder Bill” to allow retail and online sports betting. That bill modifies the current compacts the state has with its tribes, by allowing all 38 tribes to offer sports betting, along one license being held by the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunday. 

State Rep. Ken Luttrell has also filed a bill that got its first committee reading. He says sports betting revenue could lower Oklahoma's state income tax, and his bill got its first committee hearing.

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

Texas 

The positive vibes about sports betting legalization in Texas hit a wall on February 18 when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick posted a video of his visit to a lottery retailer in Texas. In the video, Patrick questions how a winning ticket worth $83 million was sold by a lottery courier service (Jackpocket) that happened to be working out of the same building as a lottery retailer. 

"Recently, there have been many questions raised about the integrity of the Texas Lottery. Last night, an $83 million winning ticket was sold in Austin. Turns out, the retail establishment that sold the winning ticket in the front of the store was owned by the courier service that purchased the ticket behind the wall in the back of the store. I decided to go out and investigate for myself . . . " Patrick posted on X, with the video embedded above. 

In the clip, Patrick notes that Jackpocket is owned by DraftKings. He also calls on the Texas House to support a bill that had passed the Senate. 29-2 to ban lottery courier services. It died in the house. "It's time we take a look at these retail services," Patrick said. 

"This is not the way the lottery was designed to operate," Patrick added. "When someone here wins a ticket for $83 million, you ask a lot of questions." 

The Texas Lottery Commission on February 24 issued a policy statement saying it believes courier services are illegal. 

Patrick also published a list of his Top 25 bills to pass in the Texas Senate this year. None concerned legalized gambling or sports betting. 

House Joint Resolution 134, which was referred to the House Committee for State Affairs on March 19, is the latest attempt to legalize sports wagering in Texas.

Meanwhile, a bill to legalize sports betting has been introduced in the Texas House. Rep. Sam Harless offered House Joint Resolution 134. It has been referred to a House committee. Like the previous bills offered in 2023 and 2021, it would amend the state constitution to legalize sports betting and establish rules and regulations to govern the practice. Any bill has to pass both the House and Senate, and be signed by the governor. Then voters must approve the constitutional amendment in November. 
HJR 134 allows the following organizations to hold sports betting skins. 

• Sports teams: Professional sports teams in existence as of Jan. 1, 2025.
• Sports organizations: Entities that have hosted a PGA Tour event annually before Jan. 1, 2025.
• Racetracks: Class 1 race tracks operating by Jan. 1, 2025.
• Designees: Authorized representatives of these organizations.

Gov. Greg Abbott, ahead of the Super Bowl, 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 Patrick. As president of the state senate, Patrick wields immense clout. Texas legislators meet every two years.

A bill to legalize Texas betting apps cleared the full House in 2023 but died in the Senate. As is his standard practice, Patrick refused to bring any bill to the floor of the Senate because it lacked enough votes to pass with solely Republican support

Sen. Nathan Johnson on March introduced Senate Joint Resolution 82, which would allow destination gambling and sports betting.

And as sports betting appears to be gaining support of the state's elected officials, it has widespread support among the general public, according to a University of Houston poll. If found the following: 

• 72% of Republicans support casino gambling
• 74% of Democrats favor casino gambling
• 59% of Republicans back online sports betting
• 65% of Democrats support online sports betting

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

A similar effort to legalize sports betting in Texas fell short in 2021. 

A study by Eilers & Krejcik called "Legal Online Sports Betting In Texas: Revenue Forecast And Economic Impact Analysis" estimates legal wagering could generate $360 million in direct tax revenue and create 8,000 new jobs.

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. But they want any sports betting measure to include an online casino component. 

Miriam Adelson was a significant financial contributor to Donald J. Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign. And Patrick is rumored to be angling for a position within the Trump administration. 

Perhaps those 2 factors could come into place in getting Patrick to change his perspective, allowing a betting bill to pass, and/or to help him push enough Republicans into the pro-betting camp. 

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. 

Minnesota

Legislators appear unlikely to get a sports betting bill to the governor's desk for the third year in a row. 

The push to legalize Minnesota sports betting fell short in the legislature in 2023 and 2024 because the major stakeholders involved could not reach a consensus. Those include native tribes, parimutuel sites, and charities that run their own gaming entities. 

Sen. Matt Klein's bill (SB 757) would legalize sports betting and give clarity to the status of Daily Fantasy Sports play, which is allowed in Minnesota but not specifically authorized.  Under Klein's bill, the 11 federally recognized tribes that currently operate casino gaming could offer legal retail and online sports betting and DFS. 

The net revenue of the online sports betting operators would be taxed at 22%. DFS revenue would be taxed at 15%. Revenue from wagers placed on tribal lands would not be considered taxable. 

That bill stalled in committee after it was deadlocked 6-6. 

A second sports betting bill authored by Sen. John Marty has been tabled with no vote. 

A third bill, the Minnesota Sports Betting Act 3.0, has been authored and filed by Sen. Jeremy Miller and 2 of his Republican colleagues. The name recognizes this is Miller's third attempt to get betting legalized in the North Star State. The only significant difference is that under Miller's bill, operators would have their net revenues taxed at 20%. 

It has yet to be scheduled for a hearing in front of the State and Local Government Committee. 

Currently, the Minnesota House is divided 67-67 along partisan lines, and that deadlock has put virtually all legislation in limbo. A special election to break that log jam could be held in March. Any sports betting bill in Minnesota that gets to the House would need bipartisan support. Given the hostility between the sites in St. Paul this spring, that is unlikely. 

South Carolina

The fate of betting in South Carolina will be driven by the success of neighboring North Carolina. A bill to legalize sports betting (HB 3749) fizzled in the 2023-24 legislative session. It would have allowed anyone 18 or over in the state to wager on up to as many as eight sports betting apps. Look for a similar bill to be pushed through in 2025. 

Alabama

Legal betting has the support of Gov. Kay Ivey. Two bills that would have put sports betting, casino betting, a state lottery, and pari-mutuel wagering to voters in 2024 were approved by the House on February 15. But a Senate committee removed the sports betting and casino provisions from the bills. Allowing just a lottery and the pari-mutuel wagering. 

HR 151 would have put a proposed amendment to the Alabama Constitution to make gambling legal in front of voters. It passed by a 70-32 margin with five more votes than needed for the 3/5ths requirement. But it never made it to the Senate floor. 

The 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 26 years since voters in Alabama rejected a proposed state lottery. 

California

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. A much-publicized $600 million ballot push to pass two sports betting proposals miserably at the polls in 2022. Another effort to get a pair of ballot items passed 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. 

Georgia

Sports betting in the Peach State is dead until at least 2026. 

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 2025. 

Two sports-betting related bills 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 this past 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.