Sports betting fever is spreading across the US however there is still a lot of confusion. Here’s the latest news on States which have been active since the PASPA repeal.
Rhode Island is the latest state to fast-track plans to legalise sports betting after Delaware and New Jersey launched wagering this month.
Rhode Island’s legislature passed a $9.6 billion budget plan on Wednesday that covers sports betting regulation.
Governor Gina Raimondo is expected to sign the bill into law shortly. She has reportedly earmarked $23.5 million in sports betting revenue into the upcoming Rhode Island budget. This appears absurdly high or ambitious and perhaps is an outline of how how the taxes on operators might be. States rushing towards legalization to fix deficit issues should tread very carefully.
The state’s plan is for sports betting to be administered by the RI Lottery via the Twin Rivers casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton.
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s lawmakers have drafted in a panel to write their sports betting law. Republican Representative Jason Nemes said the state hopes to bring in between $6.5 million and $26 million a year through licensing and taxes. The idea is to legalise sports betting beyond horse racing.
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are also eying sports betting, which would make them the first Native American tribe in the US to do so. The Choctaw Tribal Council approved betting at the Silver Star Hotel and Casino, and Golden Moon Hotel and Casino at the Pearl River Resort and Bok Homa Casino in Heidelberg.
West Virginia and Mississippi expect lto roll out wagering by the start of the NFL season and Pennsylvania may legalise sports betting toward the end of 2018.
New York failed to pass its legislation before the assembly closed for business on Wednesday but there is still plenty of interest in passing a bill when the legislature reconvenes.
