Yes. In the United States, sports betting used to be illegal or heavily restricted in most states, although the exact rules varied by state and by type of wagering.
The biggest change came in 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). PASPA had generally prevented states from authorizing sports betting, with limited exceptions for jurisdictions that already had certain forms of sports wagering.
After the Supreme Court’s decision, individual states gained much more freedom to decide whether to legalize and regulate sports betting. That is why legal sports betting expanded rapidly across the United States after 2018.
Was sports betting illegal in the United States?
For much of the modern era, legal sports betting was not broadly available across the United States.
In 1992, Congress passed PASPA. The law prohibited states and their subdivisions from sponsoring, operating, advertising, promoting, licensing or authorizing sports-betting schemes. The Supreme Court later described PASPA as effectively preventing most states from legalizing sports gambling.
However, PASPA did not simply make every individual sports bet a federal crime. The Supreme Court specifically noted that the law primarily restricted states and certain people acting under governmental authorization, and that it provided for civil enforcement.
There were also exceptions.
What was PASPA?
PASPA stands for the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.
The federal law was designed to prevent states from expanding legalized sports gambling.
When PASPA was enacted, some jurisdictions already permitted certain forms of sports wagering. The law contained grandfather provisions allowing some of those activities to continue.
According to the Supreme Court, Nevada already permitted sports gambling in casinos, while Delaware, Montana and Oregon had certain sports lotteries or sports pools that were allowed to continue under the law’s exceptions.
As a result, the legal sports-betting landscape before 2018 looked very different from today’s market.
When did sports betting become legal?
There was not one single date when sports betting became legal everywhere in America.
Instead, May 14, 2018 was the key turning point.
On that date, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Court held that PASPA’s provision preventing states from authorizing sports betting violated the Constitution’s anti-commandeering principle.
The decision did not itself require every state to legalize sports betting.
Instead, it removed the federal barrier that had prevented states from authorizing it under PASPA.
Afterward, states could make their own decisions about whether and how to regulate sports wagering.
Why did the Supreme Court strike down PASPA?
The case began after New Jersey attempted to legalize sports betting.
New Jersey voters had approved a constitutional amendment supporting sports gambling, and the state legislature subsequently enacted a law concerning sports wagering. The NCAA and major professional sports leagues challenged New Jersey’s law in federal court.
The Supreme Court ultimately focused on constitutional federalism rather than deciding whether sports betting itself was good or bad policy.
The Court concluded that Congress could regulate sports gambling directly, but it could not simply order states to maintain or enforce a particular prohibition.
As a result, PASPA’s restriction on state authorization of sports betting could not remain in effect.
What happened to sports betting after 2018?
After PASPA was struck down, states began considering their own sports-betting laws.
Some states legalized retail sportsbooks.
Others authorized online or mobile betting.
Some states continued to prohibit sports betting.
This created a patchwork of different rules across the country.
The result is that whether sports betting is legal depends heavily on where you are located and what type of betting you are considering.
Was sports betting completely illegal before 2018?
No.
This is an important distinction.
It would be inaccurate to say that sports betting was illegal everywhere in the United States before 2018.
Nevada had long-established legal sports wagering, and PASPA specifically allowed certain existing sports-gambling arrangements to continue. The Supreme Court’s records identify Nevada and several other states with grandfathered forms of sports wagering.
At the same time, many other states could not establish new state-authorized sports-betting systems because of PASPA.
So the more accurate description is that sports betting was broadly restricted at the state level, with limited exceptions, before 2018.
What was sports betting like before online sportsbooks?
Before mobile betting became widespread, sports wagering was often associated with physical sportsbooks, casinos, horse-racing facilities and illegal bookmakers.
Nevada was particularly important because its casinos had a long-established legal sports-wagering industry.
Outside legal markets, some Americans also placed bets through unauthorized bookmakers or informal betting networks.
The existence of illegal wagering did not mean that the activity was legally permitted. It simply meant that people were betting outside regulated markets.
The Supreme Court’s 2018 materials noted that illegal sports betting had become widespread in the United States before the expansion of legal state markets.
When did online sports betting become popular?
Online sports betting became much more prominent after states began legalizing it following the 2018 Supreme Court decision.
The technology itself existed before 2018, but state-authorized mobile sportsbooks could expand much more widely once states were no longer blocked by PASPA from creating their own legal systems.
This produced a major change in how people could place wagers.
Instead of traveling to a physical sportsbook, customers in jurisdictions that authorize mobile betting could use an approved app or website, subject to that state’s rules.
Why did states legalize sports betting?
States have adopted different approaches for different policy and economic reasons.
Legalized sports betting can allow governments to establish regulatory requirements, licensing systems, age restrictions and responsible-gambling measures.
States may also impose taxes and fees on regulated sports wagering.
However, the specific rules, tax rates, permitted betting markets and regulatory structures vary from state to state.
The important point is that legalization after 2018 was primarily a matter of state-by-state legislation and regulation, rather than a nationwide federal legalization law.
Did the 2018 Supreme Court decision make sports betting legal everywhere?
No.
This is one of the most common misunderstandings about the history of sports betting.
The Supreme Court did not declare sports betting legal throughout the United States.
It struck down PASPA’s federal restriction on states authorizing sports betting.
Individual states then had to decide whether to legalize sports wagering and establish their own regulatory frameworks.
Consequently, a sportsbook that is legal in one state may not be legal in another.
How did sports betting change after PASPA?
The difference between the pre-2018 and post-2018 markets is substantial.
| Period | General situation |
|---|---|
| Before 1992 | Sports-betting rules largely depended on state and federal laws |
| 1992 | PASPA restricted most state-authorized sports betting |
| 1992–2018 | Nevada and certain grandfathered activities remained exceptions |
| May 2018 | Supreme Court struck down PASPA’s state-authorization restriction |
| After 2018 | States began independently legalizing and regulating sports betting |
| Today | Legal status varies by state and betting format |
This history explains why sports betting can seem relatively new in some parts of the country even though sports wagering itself has existed for a very long time.
Was betting on sports always illegal?
No.
Sports wagering has existed for centuries, and American states have historically taken different approaches to gambling.
The legal history of sports betting is therefore more complicated than a simple “illegal, then legal” timeline.
Different states adopted different gambling laws at different times. Some permitted particular forms of wagering, while others prohibited them.
PASPA created a significant federal restriction on state-authorized sports betting beginning in 1992, but it did not erase every form of sports wagering from the country.
What happened to illegal sportsbooks after legalization?
Legalization created regulated alternatives in states that authorized sports betting.
A legal sportsbook typically operates under a state license and must follow applicable requirements involving areas such as age verification, location controls, financial transactions and responsible-gambling measures.
Illegal sportsbooks, by contrast, operate outside the state’s authorized regulatory framework.
The existence of legal sportsbooks does not necessarily eliminate all unauthorized betting. State laws continue to determine what forms of wagering are permitted and how unauthorized gambling is treated.
Did professional sports leagues oppose sports betting?
The position of major sports organizations has changed over time.
Before 2018, major professional sports leagues were among the parties challenging New Jersey’s attempt to authorize sports betting under PASPA. The Supreme Court’s Murphy case arose from that dispute.
The sports-business environment later evolved as legal sports betting expanded.
Today, professional sports organizations and betting companies can have commercial relationships in jurisdictions where sports betting is regulated.
This is another reason the modern sports-betting landscape looks very different from the period before 2018.
Is sports betting legal everywhere in the U.S. today?
No.
The legality of sports betting continues to depend on state law.
A state may allow:
- Retail sportsbooks
- Online sports betting
- Mobile betting apps
- Certain sports only
- Certain types of wagers
- Tribal sports wagering
Another state may prohibit some or all of these activities.
Because laws can change, anyone considering placing a wager should check the current rules in their own state rather than relying on a general nationwide statement.
FAQ
Did sports betting used to be illegal?
Yes, sports betting was prohibited or heavily restricted in much of the United States. PASPA, enacted in 1992, generally prevented states from authorizing sports betting, although certain existing forms were exempted.
When did sports betting become legal in the United States?
There was no single nationwide legalization date. The major turning point was May 14, 2018, when the Supreme Court struck down PASPA’s restriction on state authorization of sports betting.
Was sports betting legal in Nevada before 2018?
Yes. Nevada already had legal casino sports wagering, and PASPA included provisions allowing certain existing sports-gambling activities to continue.
Did the Supreme Court legalize sports betting?
Not exactly. The Supreme Court invalidated PASPA’s federal restriction on state authorization. Individual states then decided whether to legalize and regulate sports betting themselves.
Why was sports betting illegal in many states?
PASPA prevented states from authorizing most new sports-betting schemes. The law remained in effect until the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision.
Can sports betting still be illegal today?
Yes. Sports-betting laws vary by state, so an activity permitted in one jurisdiction may remain prohibited or restricted in another.
Was online sports betting legal before 2018?
Online wagering existed in various forms, but the broad expansion of state-regulated online sports betting in the United States occurred after the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision and subsequent state legislation.
Conclusion
So, did sports betting used to be illegal? Yes, but the history is more complicated than saying it was illegal everywhere.
The major federal restriction came in 1992, when Congress passed PASPA, which generally prevented states from authorizing sports betting while allowing certain grandfathered activities to continue.
On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down PASPA’s restriction on state authorization of sports betting. After that decision, individual states gained the ability to decide whether to legalize and regulate sports wagering.
That is why today’s U.S. sports-betting market is a state-by-state system rather than one nationwide set of rules.
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