Kansas, Maine, and Massachusetts joined the ranks of legalized U.S. sports betting jurisdictions in 2022, one of the least prolific years for legalization since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned in 2018. That year, with only seven months to legalize from the day wagering became a states’ rights issue until the end of the year, three states legalized. In between 2018 and 2022, 23 U.S. jurisdictions took the plunge.
So far, 36 jurisdictions and 34 states have legalized sports betting, leaving only 16 non-legal states.
Entering 2022, operators were full of hope and aiming to put the questions of legalization before voters in two of the four biggest states. Instead, operators had failed initiatives in California and Florida. They had to pull an initiative attempt in Florida and were soundly defeated in California.
DraftKings and FanDuel were the main financiers behind the effort in Florida, which ended with the proposal being defeated before it even had a chance to make the ballot. The political committee got a late start collecting signatures and then faced negative campaigning from the Seminole Tribe, which currently has exclusivity for gaming in the state.
One potential road to legalization in the Sunshine State currently leads through the federal courts, where two parimutuels are fighting to block the Seminoles from offering statewide digital wagering. Commercial operators could try for a future initiative, but it seems more likely that they’ll wait to see if the courts will allow the Seminoles’ compact with the state to stand or strike it down before making any new moves.
In California, the fight was even more vitriolic and the defeat more emphatic. Seven operators partnered and financed a campaign with more than $100 million, but California’s powerful tribes only want legal sports betting on their terms, and have the money to impose their will.
Proposition 27, the commercial-led digital wagering initiative, got less than 20% of the vote in November 2022. All sides staked their campaigns with more than $450 million, the most spent on such a referendum in American history, for a net result of status quo. While the operators attempted to negotiate with the tribes, those in Indian Country didn’t have their own consensus and in the fall said they had to find that before moving forward.
The decision to legalize in California will ultimately be up to the voters, whether that is through a citizen-led initiative or a referendum that originates in the state legislature. It seems unlikely that the legislature, which tried and failed to legalize twice, will play a major role in the process, unless all sides can reach a compromise. The next chance for a ballot initiative would be the 2024 presidential election, though many stakeholders are pointing to 2026.
Three other states — Alabama, Kentucky, and South Carolina — had discussions about legalizing, but lawmakers were unable to gain traction. Alabama lawmakers tried to move a sports betting and lottery bill, and Kentucky lost its most enthusiastic sports betting proponent, Rep. Adam Koenig, the author of multiple bills who had a bipartisan partnership with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in previous years.
States that legalized in 2022
Kansas: It was a wild ride in the Sunflower State before lawmakers approved statewide mobile and retail sports betting in May. The consensus came after myriad starts and stops and changes of direction, but the end result was a new law that allows for every existing casino to have a brick-and-mortar location plus three digital platforms, or skins, each. There will also be kiosks at up to 50 locations around the state. Wagering went live on Sept. 1, 2022.
Live in KC on the Kansas side. We have had sports betting legal for about five months. Lots of Missouri residence drive to the KS side to place bets. In about five weeks weed will be legal in MO. KS residents will have to cross over and get their weed.
— Kevin M. Gorman (@kevinjayhawk) January 3, 2023
The new law requires that 80% of the state’s wagering revenue be earmarked for a fund that would help to attract new professional sports teams (read: Kansas City Chiefs) to Kansas, but before the end of the year, some Kansas lawmakers were already talking about changing where the money goes. According to The New York Times, lawmakers, including Gov. Laura Kelly, were considering ways to reappropriate funds.
In its first three months, the state took in just over $1 million in revenue, which means it would take years to amass enough funds to be able to build an NFL stadium, or even offer a team enough to make a meaningful proposal.
Maine: As a way to offer an olive branch to the state’s tribes, Gov. Janet Mills pushed through a sports betting bill that gives them exclusivity to wagering. The bill came as a surprise to stakeholders and completely changed what legal wagering might have looked like in Maine. In 2019, the legislature passed a bill that would have allowed for an open, competitive marketplace, but Mills vetoed the bill in January 2020. Lawmakers had legal wagering on their minds in 2022, but Mills flexed and the bill giving tribes exclusivity is the one that moved.
The law allows for statewide mobile wagering, but it limits the number of platforms to four, one for each of the four tribes of the Wabanaki Nation. There are currently two brick-and-mortar casinos in Maine, one each owned by PENN Entertainment and Churchill Downs Inc., and under the new law, neither would have direct access to digital wagering. CDI is in the process of unwinding its digital betting platform, but PENN Entertainment’s Barstool Sportsbook is live in multiple jurisdictions across the country.
Shortly after wagering was legalized May 2, 2022, Gambling Control Unit Executive Director Milt Champion said wagering wouldn’t go live until mid-to-late 2023.
Massachusetts: The Massachusetts General Court needed a conference committee and an extended session to finally pass a statewide mobile and retail sports betting law. Lawmakers in the most populous state in New England have long been at odds about what sports betting should look like, but a last-minute deal emerged on Aug. 1, 2022. In-person betting is set to start Jan. 31, and a digital launch is planned for early March. News of the agreement, which includes a ban on betting on most college sports and a 20% tax rate, reached the general public via Twitter.
I am proud to announce that the Sports Betting Conference Committee has reached an agreement on legislation that will legalize wagering on professional and collegiate sports in Massachusetts, bringing the immense economic benefits of a legal sports betting industry to MA. (1/2)
— Speaker Ron Mariano (@RonMariano) August 1, 2022
Gov. Charlie Baker took nine days to sign the legislation, and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has been working on rules and vetting applicants ever since. The process has been arduous, as the commission is not only deliberate, but the state has an open-meeting law, meaning that every detail of the process is available for public consumption.
So far, the MGC has issued initial approval for all three casinos — Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park — to open their sportsbooks in January. It has also approved Caesars Sportsbook (Encore), WynnBET (Encore), BetMGM (MGM), and Barstool Sportsbook (Plainridge Park) for digital platforms. The Fanatics sports betting platform (Plainridge Park) is next up for approval before the commission begins considering stand-alone mobile platforms.
States that came close
Georgia: Rep. Ron Stephens was among those leading a push to legalize sports betting in Georgia in 2022, but his efforts fell short. His proposed constitutional amendment was gutted toward the end of the state’s legislative session, instead replaced with a bill related to timber tax.
Sports betting and other legalized gambling could beat long odds after Georgia Legislature shakeup https://t.co/jGjhvS6hcf via @GeorgiaRecorder
— Frank Smith (@boomerang_38) January 4, 2023
Georgia lawmakers, including Stephens, have tried for a few years to legalize sports gambling in the state. Moral objections to gambling — and the political ramifications for some legislators of pushing for legal wagering — have been key roadblocks to passing legislation. Even after falling short in 2022’s legislative session, Stephens feels the push for legalized sports wagering is inching closer to a breakthrough.
“It’s changing, and I can see it changing,” Stephens said in April. “We’re getting closer every time that we talk about it. It’s coming.”
Minnesota: The House and Senate still have not reached a consensus on what sports betting should look like in Minnesota, and while both chambers passed legal wagering bills in 2022, neither was willing to give enough to reach a compromise. In May, the House passed a bill that would have given the state’s 11 federally recognized tribes exclusivity, and about a week later, the Senate amended the bill to remove that exclusivity. The Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, which had offered support to the House bill, withdrew its support after the amendments, and lawmakers were left with a stalemate.
Minnesota is completely surrounded by states with some form of legal betting, and lawmakers there have been trying for several years to find common ground. But as in other states with tribes, no bill will move forward without support from Indian Country, and Minnesota’s tribes aren’t willing to compromise.
There’s already talk of trying again in 2023, though no bills have been filed yet.
Missouri: Nearly surrounded now by legal wagering states and looking almost forlornly at neighboring Kansas when it legalized, Missouri lawmakers once again failed to get to the finish line. After the death of the latest bill came via filibuster, Missourians are still waiting. Last year started with a lot of hope after a consortium of casinos and professional sports teams came together and brought a bill to lawmakers. Most embraced it, but Sen. Denny Hoskins, who wants video gaming terminals legalized as well, put the kibosh on the effort.
Filibuster Kills Missouri Sports Betting Bills https://t.co/4B9nHU9Ctv
— Caleb Taylor (@CalebTTaylor) April 28, 2022
After a slightly amended bill passed the House, Hoskins seemed open to negotiation, but in the end, he filibustered on a long spring night, then went back to his counterparts and offered up a bill that did not include VGTs but did include an annual $1.25 million fee for digital platforms and a revised tax rate. The new version didn’t gain any traction, and the session closed without action.
Rep. Dan Houx, who carried wagering in the House, tried to get it added to a special-session agenda, but Gov. Mike Parson declined to include it.
Several new bills have already been filed in Jefferson City for the 2023 session.
North Carolina: SB 688, which would’ve legalized mobile sports betting in North Carolina, passed through the Senate in 2021 but failed to make it through the House in 2022. The bill fell just short, as some legislators shared moral objections to sports betting.
“The one opinion that matters to me, the one judgment to me that matters, is ‘What does Jesus think?’” Rep. Larry Pittman said. “It’s very clear from his word what he thinks of these two bills, and I’m gonna be on his side and vote no.”
Others lawmakers were worried about on-field integrity concerns and wanted to keep wagering out of college sports. Such an omission from a mobile betting bill could have a large impact in a state where interest in college sports is massive.
Bennett Conlin contributed to this story
