The roll of the dice.
It is back to work for state legislators who are trying to solve problems around the county in their areas. While legalizing sportsbooks should not be considered a major problem, there are elected officials who want to see sportsbooks coming to their states. In 2020, this much is certain, there will be no discussion of legalizing sports gambling in Utah as gambling is prohibited by law in the state’s constitution. Alaska, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Wyoming would have to change state law that prohibits sports gambling. The states that have not enacted legalized sports gambling can take up the question. Maine legislators agreed to a sports betting bill in 2019 but Governor Janet Mills vetoed the bill. Georgia and Kentucky elected officials are going to try and get a sports betting bill passed this year. A number of other states are in the same boat. Connecticut and Massachusetts lawmakers will for a third year in a row try to get a bill passed.
On the federal level, New York Democrat Chuck Schumer and Utah Republican Mitt Romney are trying to concoct a bill that could establish some federal rules for the states that have legalized sports gambling to enforce. There was an attempt in 2018 to get some federal guidelines on the books as retiring Utah Republican Orrin Hatch put forth The Sports Wagering Market Integrity Act of 2018, which would have required bookmakers to use official data that was provided or licensed by professional sports leagues in posting odds. Hatch’s legislation went nowhere. Nevada got legalized sportsbooks in 1949. New York, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, Oregon, New Mexico, Arkansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado and Tennessee have various forms of sportsbooks.
