Brendan Bussmann, the director of government affairs with Global Market Advisors, a consultant who tracks state legislative action across the country, shares with SiGMA the latest in the US sports betting market
By Buck Wargo, SiGMA US correspondent
He told SiGMA that many of the US states are currently moving towards enacting new legislation to make up for the loss of state revenue from the pandemic.
Here are the latest state-by-state developments:
● Wyoming has approved online sports wagering in the House and is moving forward in the Senate before going to the governor for a signature possibly this week.
● Maryland voters approved sports betting in a November ballot, but state lawmakers have yet to approve legislation. That could happen this week and could be live by football season.
● New York is expected to solidify its budget by April 1st and lawmakers are ready to move forward with mobile sports wagering because the state is losing revenue to its residents betting in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
● South Dakota has approved enabling legislation that was signed by the governor in March and allows land-based sports betting in Deadwood casinos. Regulations need to be approved and wagering could be ready by the American football season.
● Washington state is going through its regulatory process and land-based sports betting could be in place by the fall.
● Connecticut’s two tribes have finally agreed to a proposal that would include the state lottery taking sports wagers and could be one of the next emerging jurisdictions once approved by lawmakers in next month.
● Ohio is discussing its options and is expected to have a bill by late spring or early summer to approve it by fall. It could possibly be in place by March Madness 2022.
● Arizona was on track to approve sports betting before the COVID-19 pandemic hit but a legislative disagreements in 2021 among competing interests among tribes, sports teams, horse tracks and bars slowed the process. If approved, tribes would be first to launch.
● Louisiana voters approved sports betting in November, but lawmakers still must approve the required law.
● Nebraska voters approved sports betting, but legislation is still lacking. A two-thirds majority vote is needed to overcome opposition from the governor.
● Florida has several proposals pending in front of the House but no clear path forward appears unless agreed to by the Seminole tribe and Disney.
● Texas has a number of bills in front of its legislature for sports betting and opening of casinos. Sports teams are supportive, and Las Vegas Sands Corp and others have pitched proposals. However, it is likely that a solid proposal will not be put in front of voters before November 2024.
● Massachusetts has about 15 bills under consideration but it seems to be far away from moving forward.
● North Dakota’s bills on sports betting looks stalled and possible legislation can only be voted upon once its approved by voters. 2022 might be the first occasion.
● Kansas and Missouri have pending bills. The question is when not if. No indication yet on timeline.
● Alabama has yet to approve a bill that would take the matter to voters in 2022. No definite plans yet.
● Wisconsin and Minnesota won’t consider moving forward on sports betting bills until 2022 at the earliest and Oklahoma not until 2023.
● California will put the question for popular approval through a ballot in 2022 to allow land-based sports betting on tribal lands and horse tracks.
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Our Virtual Roadshow reflects SiGMA’s global events opening in 5 major regions over the next few years, specifically Europe, the CIS region, Asia, the Americas and Africa. Our previous virtual event, held in Ukraine, welcomed over 2,500 delegate registrations and over 1,500 conference views. There were also over 75 exhibitors and the number of total booth entries hit close to a 6k mark. Join us for our next Virtual Roadshow to learn more about the US gaming market!
