Sports betting expansion may be slowing down, after rushing to more than 30 states. Brett Koenig can take out his smartphone and access a sports betting app from his suburban St. Louis house. However, he is unable to wager. A pop-up alert stating he is not in a legitimate place blocks him. Missouri is among the twelve states where sports betting is still prohibited, even after the U.S. Supreme Court granted states permission to allow it to happen more than five years ago.
Since 2018, more than $280 billion in sports wagers have generated over $4 billion in taxes for other jurisdictions. Vermont became the latest state accept sports bets in January. However, the likelihood of sports betting expansion to more states in 2024 seems doubtful to some, due to political opposition and the occasionally conflicting financial interests of current gambling providers.
The field for additional sports betting has shrunk to a few states where different stakeholders are all looking to “kind of maximize what they get out of the legalization framework” following a “whirlwind” of expansion, according to Chris Cylke, senior vice president of government relations at the American Gaming Association, which represents the sector. “So that might lead to some conflict.”
Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah are the states where sports betting is still prohibited. The two most populated states in America, Texas and California, would offer the greatest payouts to sports bettors. However, it doesn’t seem like either will see sports betting expansion in 2024.
After record-breaking $463 million was raised by both backers and opponents of two competing sports betting initiatives, voters in California last year decisively defeated them. Divides between internet gaming businesses, tribal casinos, and horse races contributed to the deluge of advertisements. Native American tribes are opposed to a new sports betting initiative that is collecting signatures to be included on the ballot in 2024, indicating that these conflicts have persisted.
There are already numerous tribe-run casinos in Oklahoma. In November of last year, Republican governor Kevin Stitt unveiled a sports betting expansion plan that also included both online and at tribal casinos using platforms that hold state licenses. But tribes, with whom Stitt has been at odds, don’t seem to be on board with his strategy. The next state most likely to legalize sports betting is Minnesota, but that would likely need a bipartisan vote in the Senate, where Democrats have a narrow advantage over Republicans by one seat.