Americans love sports such as basketball, football, and baseball, but it’s not been easy placing bets on them. For many decades, sports betting has been a difficult task, especially online. However, times are changing, and now more states are legalizing gambling and allowing online sportsbooks to open.
It’s been a long battle to get to the stage where a steadily increasing number of US states are now allowing legal online sportsbooks. It used to be the case that if you wanted to bet on sporting events, an account had to be opened with a site that wasn’t based in the United States. That fact meant the site owners weren’t subject to American law, so the ban didn’t apply to them.
The federal government was still determined to make life difficult for online gamblers, a view echoed by other countries like the Netherlands. They clamped down on financial institutions being able to deal with online sportsbooks, but still the gambling continued.
All of this was rather frustrating for those US gambling companies that wanted a slice of the pie. They saw that gambling on sport was becoming more and more popular but couldn’t get involved. It wasn’t just the federal government that was against gambling on sport. Bodies such as the NFL, NBA, and MLB had shown opposition. Their fear was it might threaten the integrity of their sports.
A Key Ruling
Then it all changed in 2018 with a US Supreme Court Judge making a vital ruling. His view was that the laws that forbid individual states from deciding on legalizing gambling wasn’t fair. States such as New Jersey had been battling for years to hear that kind of ruling, and it has led to the situation we have today.
If you are new to gambling online, particularly on sport, some help is required to join the best and most secure sportsbooks – presuming you are in a legal state, of course. Thankfully, there are sites that can supply you with plenty of information about the growing list of US sportsbooks. This includes an in-depth review of what they have to offer and how trustworthy they are.
All Change
With the new ruling in place, the situation quickly changed, with Delaware being the first to legalize sportsbooks. New Jersey soon followed suit, and a steady stream of states have gone on to pass legislation in favor of online gambling on sport.
Why has this been the case? Well, don’t for a second believe that the individual states adore gambling. They see the situation as one that will see millions of dollars being received in additional tax revenue, something that is currently interesting authorities in Brazil.
For years they have been missing out on that money, and now, especially in these difficult times, they want to see that money in their accounts. Often the money that is received from the gambling companies is used for education and other important areas that need funding.
For casinos, it is another opportunity for them to boost revenues. Little did they know that opening a sportsbook, especially online, would be so important for them during the health crisis.
Work to be Done
Whereas states such as Nevada, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania have passed laws in favor of sports betting, there are still many states that have not. Idaho and Wisconsin are yet to take any steps towards legalizing gambling.
In New York, it’s possible to go to a casino and use a sportsbook, but the battle for online sportsbooks to open continues. As time progresses, though, there are moves to change the laws in favor of legalized gambling. The mere fact that neighboring New Jersey and other states are seeing their coffers filling up with revenue from gambling will eventually persuade New York to change its laws.
Washington took its time to pass new laws, but that’s just what they did in March of this year. It has only taken a gentle step forward by legalizing sports betting for the state’s tribal casinos, but it’s a start.
The state of Utah hasn’t made moves to legalize online sportsbooks. Its opposition to gambling of any kind is part of their constitution. It would take a massive U-turn for it to change a longstanding opposition and allow online sportsbooks to operate legally.
There have been major changes, and whatever the real motives, it’s good to see online sportsbooks being opened. The opportunity to legally bet on the upcoming NFL season or the NBA playoffs adds great excitement to following the game. With the likelihood of more sports teams forging links with gambling companies, a new age for gambling has arrived in the US, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
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