Other states have a variety of third-party operators depending on when their legislation was passed and the licensing fees required to launch. The platform in Oregon is already live, but Montana has not yet launched an online interface for placing bets. For example, the state lotteries in Oregon and Montana are responsible for building online sportsbooks. That’s in part because some state laws require that online betting is run by the state lottery.
To make matters more confusing, there’s no one online sportsbook platform operating in every state that has legalized sports gambling. Nine more states have considered legislation that would legalize sports betting in some form, and it’s possible that more states will follow suit after it becomes more clear how much revenue online sportsbooks bring in for state coffers. Note that Arkansas, Mississippi, and New York, three states that have legalized retail sports betting at physical locations, have not legalized online sports betting. You must be within the bounds of these states in order to place a bet online, and most mobile sportsbooks apps require your location to verify you are located in a state that has legalized online sports betting. As of 2020, 14 states have legalised online sports betting:
