Legal Sports Betting States: The Best Betting Sites State by State

Sports betting is legal online in more than 30 states, but every one of them runs its own market. New York taxes sportsbook revenue at 51%. Michigan’s online sports rate started at 8.4%. Illinois charges a fee on every bet. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan let you play online casino games for real money; New York and Illinois don’t. The same app can be legal in one state and blocked a mile across the line.

This hub covers the ten state markets we track. For each one you get the launch date, the regulator, what else is legal and which licensed partner offers you can claim. Pick your state below, or scroll on for the side-by-side comparison.

21+. Must be physically located in a legal state to bet. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Legal sports betting states compared

All ten states below allow online sports betting for players 21 and over. Each has its own regulator, which licenses operators and publishes the official list of who can take your bet.

State	Online sports betting launch	Online casino	Regulator	Minimum age
New Jersey	August 2018	Yes	Division of Gaming Enforcement	21
Pennsylvania	May 2019	Yes	Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board	21
Colorado	May 2020	No	Colorado Division of Gaming	21
Illinois	June 2020	No	Illinois Gaming Board	21
Michigan	January 2021	Yes	Michigan Gaming Control Board	21
Arizona	September 2021	No	Arizona Department of Gaming	21
New York	January 2022	No	New York State Gaming Commission	21
Ohio	January 2023	No	Ohio Casino Control Commission	21
Massachusetts	March 2023	No	Massachusetts Gaming Commission	21
North Carolina	March 2024	No	North Carolina Lottery Commission	21

What’s legal where: sportsbooks, casinos, sweeps and prediction markets

Sportsbooks are only one part of the picture. Sweepstakes casinos and prediction markets work under different rules, and states have moved hard on both in the last 18 months.

State	Sportsbooks	Online casino	Sweepstakes casinos	Prediction markets
New Jersey	Legal	Legal	Banned (Aug 2025)	Kalshi won at the Third Circuit (Apr 2026)
New York	Legal	Not legal	Banned (Dec 2025)	AG suits against Gemini and Coinbase; CFTC suing the state
Pennsylvania	Legal	Legal	Regulator cease-and-desist letters; bill pending	Available on CFTC-registered platforms that list the state
Michigan	Legal	Legal	Blocked under existing law	Some platforms exclude the state or its sports contracts
Illinois	Legal	Not legal	Cease-and-desist letters (Feb 2026); bill in committee	CFTC suing the state
Ohio	Legal	Not legal	No state ban; check each brand’s terms	Sixth Circuit sided with the state (Sep 2026)
Massachusetts	Legal	Not legal	No state ban; check each brand’s terms	Kalshi sports injunction on hold during appeal
Arizona	Legal	Not legal	Regulator action against operators	Contested in state and federal court
Colorado	Legal	Not legal	No state ban; check each brand’s terms	Available on CFTC-registered platforms that list the state
North Carolina	Legal	Not legal	No state ban; check each brand’s terms	Available on CFTC-registered platforms that list the state

Sweepstakes brands set their own restricted-state lists, which often go further than the law. Our sweepstakes legal states tracker lists every ban and every brand restriction, and the prediction market legal states page follows each court case.

Best betting sites by state: where our partners are live

We only list offers from brands we have a direct relationship with, and only in states where they hold a license. That means some state pages show several offers and New York shows only horse racing.

Hard Rock Bet sportsbook

Hard Rock Bet takes bets in ten states, according to its official site: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. Six of those are states we cover.

New customers only, must be physically located in an eligible state. Our Hard Rock Bet review covers the app and markets.

Online casinos: New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania

Hard Rock Bet Casino is live in New Jersey and Michigan. PlayStar is a New Jersey-only brand licensed through Ocean Casino Resort. Stardust runs in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania, where it appears on the Gaming Control Board’s interactive gaming list under the Valley Forge license.

Hard Rock Bet Casino

Online casino · NJ & MI

500 Cash Eruption Spins + $1K Casino Bonus Back

Claim offer

New customers 21+ in NJ or MI. Deposit $10+ for 500 Cash Eruption spins at $0.20 each, used within 7 days. Get 100% of net slot losses back as casino bonus, up to $1,000, over 24 hours from your first cash slot wager (made within 30 days of sign-up). Minimum 10 wagers; no single wager can be more than 50% of the loss. 1x wagering within 14 days. One welcome offer per player. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

21+ · 1-800-GAMBLER Read review

PlayStar Casino

Online casino · NJ

100% Deposit Match up to $500 + up to 500 Spins

Claim offer

New customers in NJ, 21+. Minimum $20 first deposit within 7 days of registering; select "Welcome Offer Deposit Match" in the cashier. 30x bonus wagering within 30 days; only slots, Slingo and instant games count. Max bet $20. Spins worth $0.10 each, claimed and used within 7 days. Excluded games apply. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

21+ · 1-800-GAMBLER Read review

Stardust Casino

Online casino · NJ & PA

50 No-Deposit Spins + 100% Match & 225 Spins

Claim offer

New customers 21+ in NJ, PA or WV. 50 Cash Eruption spins with no deposit required, then a 100% match bonus plus 225 Cash Eruption spins on the first deposit. Match cap, minimum deposit, wagering and expiry vary by state; see the Stardust app terms. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

21+ · 1-800-GAMBLER Read review

Availability varies by state, so each card applies only where the brand is licensed. New customers only, must be physically located in New Jersey, Michigan or Pennsylvania as applicable.

AmWager for horse racing

AmWager’s terms and conditions list New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Colorado as available, and list New Jersey, Arizona and North Carolina as restricted. AmWager requires every account holder to be 21 or older.

For more racing options, see our best horse betting apps guide.

State snapshots: what makes each market different

New Jersey

The state that won the Supreme Court case in 2018 and still runs the deepest online market. A 19.75% tax now applies to online sports and casino revenue, and online casinos out-earn sportsbooks by more than three to one. New Jersey guide.

New York

Nine licensed mobile operators, a 51% tax and no online casino. Sweepstakes casinos were banned from December 5, 2025. New York guide.

Pennsylvania

Eleven licensed online sportsbooks, 24 online casino brands and a record $7 billion fiscal year in 2025/26. Online slots are taxed at 54%. Pennsylvania guide.

Michigan

Sportsbooks and online casinos launched on the same day in January 2021, mostly through tribal partners. Sweepstakes casinos are treated as illegal gambling. Michigan guide.

Illinois

A graduated revenue tax of 20% to 40%, plus a 25 to 50 cent fee on every online bet. The biggest books pass that fee to customers. Ten authorized online brands. Illinois guide.

Ohio

Launched on New Year’s Day 2023. In February 2024 the Ohio Casino Control Commission banned player props on college games at the NCAA’s request. Ohio guide.

Massachusetts

Mobile betting arrived in March 2023. The state is also the front line in the Kalshi fight, with the Supreme Judicial Court hearing arguments on May 4, 2026. Massachusetts guide.

Arizona

Live since September 2021, with licenses split between pro sports teams and tribes. Arizona also brought a criminal complaint against Kalshi before a federal court stepped in. Arizona guide.

Colorado

One of the first states to launch after New Jersey, in May 2020, with a long list of licensed books. Colorado guide.

North Carolina

The newest market here, live since March 2024 and run by the state Lottery Commission. North Carolina guide.

Sports betting taxes by state

State tax rates do not change your odds directly, but they shape how generous operators are with promotions. The five largest markets we cover compare like this, based on regulator reports and published state rates.

State	Online sports betting tax	Online casino tax	Extra charges
New York	51%	Not legal	None
Illinois	20% to 40%, graduated	Not legal	25 to 50 cents per online wager since July 1, 2025
Pennsylvania	36%	54% on slots, 16% on table games	None
New Jersey	19.75%	19.75%	None
Michigan	8.4%	About 20% to 28%, tiered	None

The gap is enormous. A dollar of sportsbook profit in Michigan leaves the operator more than 90 cents; in New York it leaves 49. Pennsylvania shows the same pressure on the casino side, where online slots pay 54%. Even so, Pennsylvania collected $3.1 billion in gaming tax and fees in fiscal 2025/26, a record.

Machine sports betting: drones, robots and AI racing by state

Every state regulator keeps its own list of events a sportsbook may offer, and new events need approval first. That matters for the sports drone.bet covers. New Jersey’s approved events list, last updated December 3, 2025, includes the Drone Racing League. Live races count as athletic events and virtual races as esports. Robot combat and autonomous racing are not on it yet. A book has to request approval at least 72 hours before posting odds on a new event.

Other states run the same process under different names. So machine sports markets appear first in states with flexible approval rules and big operator rosters, and only when a book decides the event is worth pricing. Our US drone betting sites guide and the robot combat sports explainer track where those markets turn up. For the contracts sportsbooks won’t touch, see AI prediction markets.

How to choose the best betting site in your state

The best app in one state may not be licensed in the next, so start with the regulator’s own list. Each of our state guides links to it. After that, these are the checks that matter most:

• Price. Convert both sides of a market to implied probability and add them up. The lower the total over 100%, the less the book is charging you.
• Markets. Look past the main lines to alternates, player props, live betting and smaller leagues.
• Promotion terms. Minimum odds, opt-in rules, expiry dates and whether bonus bet stakes are returned with winnings.
• Banking. Deposit and withdrawal methods, limits and published processing times.
• Protection tools. Deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion that are easy to find, not buried.

Opening accounts at two or three licensed books in your state lets you take the best price on every bet. Over a season, that line shopping usually matters more than any welcome offer.

Licensed sportsbooks vs offshore sites, sweeps and exchanges

A licensed sportsbook holds a state license and sits on the regulator’s published list. It checks your age and location, and it has to pay out under state rules. If something goes wrong, you can complain to that regulator. Offshore sites offer none of that.

Sweepstakes casinos run on a dual-currency model with no purchase necessary, which is why they operate outside casino licensing. More states ban them every year. Prediction markets let you trade contracts on outcomes, including sports, under federal CFTC oversight rather than state gaming law. Federal appeals courts have now split on whether states can regulate them. The Third Circuit backed Kalshi in New Jersey, while the Ninth and Sixth Circuits backed Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee, as Al Jazeera reported. Trading event contracts involves risk of loss.

How online betting works in any legal state

Location, not residency

Every legal app runs a geolocation check before each bet. You can live in Connecticut and bet in New York, as long as you are standing in New York. Border towns, VPNs and weak GPS signals cause most failed checks; turning on Wi-Fi usually fixes them.

Identity checks

Expect to give your legal name, date of birth, address and the last four digits of your Social Security number. Books use them to confirm you are 21 and not on a self-exclusion list.

Taxes on winnings

Gambling winnings are taxable income federally and in most states. From 2026, federal law caps deductible gambling losses at 90% of losses, so a break-even year can still leave you with a tax bill. Keep records of every bet. To check whether a price is worth taking in the first place, our implied probability calculator shows the odds the book is really offering.

Responsible gambling in every state

1-800-GAMBLER is free, confidential and open 24/7 across the US. New York also runs the HOPEline at 1-877-846-7369. Every licensed sportsbook offers deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion, and most states run statewide self-exclusion lists that cover every licensed operator at once.