Top stories around our network this week
Ever since PASPA’s repeal almost five years ago, it’s become an annual guessing game with the turn of the calendar and start of new legislative sessions: Which state is going to legalize sports betting this year?
For us at , it’s a question always at the forefront of our minds. Our latest look at the topic identified Georgia, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Vermont as very viable entrants to the ever-growing field.
In Georgia, it could be a matter of legislators attempting a standalone sports betting bill rather than wrapping that aspect into a broader, more challenging gambling bill that has to go before voters as a constitutional amendment. In North Carolina, there are thoughts that the younger group of lawmakers resulting from turnover in the legislature could enable passage of a mobile betting bill similar to one that passed the Senate but not the House in the last session.
Missouri lawmakers were among the first to file another round of wagering bills on Dec. 1, and in Kentucky, HB 106 was filed this week seeking to legalize retail and digital wagering as well as online poker. A bill in Hawaii, meanwhile, would allow for the creation of a standalone sportsbook and poker room. In North Dakota, lawmakers have agreed to send to the voters a referendum that would expand access to legal wagering beyond the state's tribal casinos.
Of course, with two-thirds of states already legalizing, the low-hanging fruit has already been picked. The states yet to legalize each present their own special challenges for sports betting advocates, and that includes the big three of California, Florida, and Texas, where nothing seems imminent in 2023 despite some new lobbying efforts in the latter.
Rest assured that the staff will continue following all of the developments closely and reporting on progress in the various states, just as is the case with all sports betting and gambling-related stories, as reflected in the following.
A mass of stuff going on in Massachusetts
Massachusetts regulator outlines strict advertising/marketing guidelines
Massachusetts regulators react positively to DraftKings application
‘Forthright’ Jake Paul deftly handles probe at Betr’s Massachusetts platform review
FanDuel makes drama-free appearance before Massachusetts regulator
Want to hear a good bad beat story?
Are bad beat refunds from sportsbooks beautiful or worth bemoaning?
Worst bad beat ever? Wild college basketball ending burns bettors
New kids are on the block
Fanatics to launch sportsbook brand in Maryland next week at FedEx Field
Betr selects Jake Paul’s home state of Ohio as launch point for real-money product
Bet365 looks to become Pennsylvania’s next online sportsbook, iCasino