It was an exceptional year for online sports betting in the United States. 2019 marks the year that no less than six states launched their own legal and regulated online sports betting industries, paving the way for even more in the coming year to do so.
Those states that ushered in legal online sports betting this year were:
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- West Virginia
- Iowa
- Indiana
- Pennsylvania
Oregon
In October 2019, Oregon launched online sports betting via the Scoreboard app., run by the Oregon Lottery. In its first month of handle, the Scoreboard notched $13.1 million, of which $12.1 million was paid out to winning players. Oregon forbids betting on college sports.
Rhode Island
Sports betting legislation in Rhode Island was upgraded by Governor Gina Raimondo when she signed a new law in March, allowing state residents to wager on sports via mobile devices. By the autumn of this year, players were placing online bets via the William Hill platform.
West Virginia
In 2018, West Virginia gave its locals a glimpse of what legal online sports betting would look like when it briefly launched its industry. Unfortunately, screens went black soon afterwards when a dispute shut down BetLucky. But it was FanDuel Sportsbook and Draftkings to the rescue this year when they relaunched online sports betting in WV at the start of official football season.
Iowa
Iowa stood out from the other states this year after it managed the near impossible feat of getting its retail and online sports betting brands launched simultaneously in August.
Indiana
DraftKings and BetRivers were the names to note in Indiana,when they took the state into legal and regulated sports betting. Analysts were impressed with the speed at which Indianan lawmakers managed to pass the relevant legislation and get the industry up and running in lightening time. By October, Indian had legal online sports betting.
Pennsylvania
All eyes were on one of the US’s biggest betting markets this year, when the state launched its first mobile betting app. SugarHouse Sportsbook PA led the way in May, followed by three more over the course of the summer; namely BetRivers, Parx and FanDuel Sportsbook PA.
