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South Dakota, Maryland, and Louisiana Vote to Pass Legal Sports Betting

south-dakota,-maryland,-and-louisiana-vote-to-pass-legal-sports-betting

  • South Dakota, Maryland, and Louisiana clear hurdles ahead of legalized sports betting
  • Maryland voters approved their measure by a 2-1 margin
  • 19 states and Washington DC currently offer legal sports betting

While most eyes remain on the ongoing drama with the unfolding 2020 US presidential election, let’s not lose sight of the fact that voters made their voices heard on a number of other key matters, too. If you voted, you surely opined one way or another on the various ballot initiatives available in your area.

Voters in three states have decided to move closer and closer to opening legal sports betting markets. On Tuesday, South Dakota, Louisiana, and Maryland voted to advance legislation that would result in the opening of regulated sports betting markets in those states.

While each state will still have to go through the trouble of drawing up legislative framework for how the industries will operate, the three states are still a step closer to actually offering legal sports betting.

South Dakota, Maryland, and Louisiana on Track for Legal Sports Betting

South Dakota, Louisiana, and Maryland will join more than a dozen states that have voted to legalize and regulate their own sports betting markets since 2018. Over two years ago, the US Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which was in place to prevent states other than Nevada from offering fully legal sports betting.

Nineteen states and Washington DC have since voted to pass legal betting legislation, and they have subsequently opened their own legal sportsbooks. North Carolina, Washington, and Virginia are among the states preparing to follow suit in the coming months. Once South Dakota, Louisiana, and Maryland are open for business, more than half of the 50 states in the US will have opened themselves up to legal sports betting.

In a statement Wednesday morning, the American Gaming Association voiced their support of the decisions made by the three aforementioned states. Bill Miller, the AGA’s CEO, said,

“Some form of legal gaming is currently authorized in 44 states, and more than 45 percent of American adults – 115 million – live in states with legal, regulated sports betting and the safeguards those markets provide.”

Voters Easily Approved Measures

Voters in over half of Louisiana’s 64 parishes voted in favor of the ballot measure that will open up sports betting for customers in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and a number of other cities around the state. State legislatures are set to decide further details, including aspects of mobile betting offerings. They will also rule on whether betting on college sports will be legal.

Maryland voters approved their own sports betting measure by a better than 2-1 margin. Republican Governor Larry Hogan vocalized his support for the legislation with an eye on using the extra revenue to help fund public education measures in the state. The Maryland General Assembly still has to pass its own regulatory measures before any further steps will be taken.

The three states will join the list of states with legal sports betting that already includes Arkansas, Indiana, New Jersey, Illinois, Delaware, Iowa, Colorado, West Virginia, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennesse, Rhode Island, Montana, New Mexico, Michigan, and New Hampshire.

Taylor Smith

Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …

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