In the nearly eight years since the Supreme Court gave states the right to regulate gambling, 2025 is the first during which no state legalized, and Missouri’s Dec. 1 launch was the first in 18 months. While 40 U.S. states have some sort of legal sports betting — be it retail, digital, or both — the pace of legalization has slowed.
This year, the idea of legalization gained the most traction in Hawaii — a state that has no form of legal gambling, or much of a history considering it.
Entering the year, the expectation was that Georgia, Minnesota, and Texas could make some real progress. Only in Minnesota did it happen.
The biggest legislative news had nothing to do with legalization. The federal government rolled back the amount a gambler can deduct on his or her tax return to 90% of winnings. That means bettors may end up paying taxes for losses in 2025. The news continues to draw the ire of bettors and some members of Congress.
Nevada Rep. Dina Titus has been fighting to amend President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” but gambling legislation has gained little traction in Congress. Titus isn’t the only congressperson who has tried to move legislation to negate this provision. Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto introduced her attempt at negating the new reality but could not get unanimous consent.
In another gambling arena, New York Rep. Paul Tonko in March continued to push his SAFE Bet Act, holding a third press conference since 2023 on a proposal that has stalled. The proposal calls for the federalization of responsible gaming, but also for states to get permission from the federal government to allow sports betting.
It now also appears that a federal bill banning prop bets could be in the offing.
Plenty of bills, no legalization
With 2026 just days away, here’s a look back at what happened this year in each of the 10 states without legal sports betting.
Alabama: Introduced in April, HB 490 would have allowed for statewide digital sports betting and would have regulated how college athletes participate in the NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) program. On the sports betting side, operators would have been taxed at 10% and a portion of state sports betting revenue would have been earmarked for NIL programs. The bill was a bit of a departure from previous efforts in that it was nearly a stand-alone sports betting bill, but it still did not gain any traction.
Alabama lawmakers have been trying for at least four years to legalize, but does not have any kind of gambling infrastructure of experience. The only gambling in Alabama is at casinos on Poarch Band of Creek Indians land. Previous efforts have involved legalizing everything from digital sports betting to lottery to casino gaming.
Alaska: HB 145, introduced in March, would have allowed for statewide digital betting with a 20% tax rate. The bill was assigned to the House Labor and Commerce Committee but did not get a hearing.
California: Legal sports betting in the state requires a voter initiative, and none was filed in 2025. The state’s tribes, which have exclusivity, previously said they have no plans to try for legalization before 2028 at the earliest despite efforts by the commercial sector to move forward. In April, a group of commercial operators floated a proposal for partnering with Indian Country, and the tribes themselves have been considering a framework, but none came to fruition.
While legal sports betting is still on the table for the tribes, Indian Country focused its attention in 2025 on a lawsuit against the state’s cardrooms by getting sweepstakes platforms declared illegal and is working with the attorney general ahead of an opinion that all forms of daily fantasy sports are illegal. In addition, the tribes have been active in pushing back against the rise of prediction markets.
Georgia: In what has seemingly become an annual rite of passage, Georgia lawmakers filed legal sports betting bills and didn’t get them across the finish line. It’s been five years since state lawmakers had a bill on the cusp of passing but didn’t due to a partisan divide over a voting-rights issue. In 2021, the Senate Democrats pulled their votes on a bill that would have allowed for statewide legal wagering and the legislature hasn’t gotten close since.
This year’s bills were introduced late and didn’t meet the crossover deadline. In addition, the House wagering champion, Rep. Marcus Wiedower, left the legislature for a job in the private sector and Sen. Brandon Beach joined the Trump Administration as U.S. Treasurer, leaving the issue without an experienced mentor. Late this year, a House group tasked with exploring and recommending whether or not the chamber should move forward with legal sports betting filed a report that did not include a recommendation.
Hawaii: In what may have been the oddest march through a state legislature since sports betting became a states’ rights issue in 2018, Hawaii lawmakers in both chambers pushed forward legal sports betting bills that state agencies opposed before a conference committee was unable to find consensus. HB 1308 would have allowed for statewide mobile sports betting, but the full House had to remove the tax rate to move it forward, plus a senate committee replaced the proposed regulator after the original one said it was unequipped to handle the job.
The bill sparked much discussion and did force lawmakers to consider what they want legal sports betting to look like. But it also appears that legalizing would place an unexpected burden on the existing state agencies named to regulate it. In many states that don’t have legal gambling, a new regulatory agency is created during the legislative process.
Idaho: No discussion and no bills introduced.
Minnesota: SF 757 represented the first time state lawmakers were able to satisfy the myriad parties with a stake in gaming — tribes, racetracks, and charitable gaming. Digital sports betting net revenue would be taxed at 22%, only tribes would be eligible for operators’ licenses, and tribes would be able to contract with platform providers to operate wagering sites. Tax revenue would be divided among charitable gaming (which lost state funding a year ago), racetracks, a tribal “equalization fund” that would ensure all tribes benefit, and several other interests.
Minnesota’s legislature was hit by tragedy in June when House Speaker Melissa Hortman, along with her husband, was assassinated during a politically motivated shooting spree. The killings halted progress on many issues. But stakeholders were able to finally find a consensus, which they hope will be the basis for legalization in 2026.
South Carolina: Legal sports betting bills, including a constitutional amendment, were introduced in both chambers, either by prefile last December or early in the session, but the conversation about legal wagering never really got started. Lawmakers appear to favor digital-only legalization. While South Carolina has a lottery, it does not have any other form of legal gambling. Legal betting proposals would have set the tax rate at 12.5%.
Texas: Rep. Sam Harless introduced HJR 134 in February, which would have sent the decision to legalize to the voters. The one-page bill was referred to the House Committee on State Affairs but never got a hearing. The proposal would have allowed for qualified professional sports teams to get licensed and work with management services providers to offer digital wagering platforms.
Legal sports betting in the Texas legislature has long been and remains stymied by the senate, where Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has said he won’t call the issue for a vote until he has a Republican majority behind it.
Utah: No discussion and no bills introduced.
