2025 will not be remembered fondly by sportsbook legalization advocates.
For the first time since the Supreme Court struck down the federal wagering ban in 2018, no state passed a sportsbook legalization bill or approved a ballot measure that would allow sports betting. This year was bound to happen – there are only 50 states – but it is still a difficult stretch for bettors, especially with many high-population states still without legal wagering options.
California and Texas, the two most populated states in the country and a combined 25% of its population, were never going to approve sports betting in 2025. Even if they had, both states require ballot measures, neither of which would come before the 2026 elections.
Alabama and (likely) Georgia are also facing a ballot measure requirement, which is stifling 2025 efforts before they gain much traction. Political realities mean holdouts including Utah, South Carolina, Idaho, and Alaska may never have legal sports betting.
But of the 11 remaining states without legal books, there were a handful that seemed like they could break through in 2025. Instead, the following trio will have to wait until 2026 – and possibly longer.
Minnesota sports betting bill falls out of the gate
What seemed like a safe bet ended before a single vote
Minnesota, perhaps more so than any state without legal sports betting, seems ready to support legal sportsbooks. The problem wasn’t “if” Minnesota sports betting should be legal but “who” would have access to sportsbooks.
The state’s 11 gaming tribes argued that their compacts with the states gave them exclusive sports betting rights and withheld support for any proposal that granted sportsbook licenses to commercial establishments. The state's two horse tracks, as well as its multibillion-dollar charitable gaming industry, argued they should have sportsbooks as well.
With Democrats siding with the tribes and Republicans with the other entities, the bill fell short in the 2024 legislative session. When all the gaming establishments announced a deal ahead of the 2025 session, it appeared Minnesota had cleared the way for legal sportsbooks.
Instead, the bill failed its first committee vote.
Though the tribes, tracks and charitable organizations supported a compromise provision that gave tribal interests exclusive sports betting rights and the other groups increased funding, state lawmakers had concerns about sports betting in general. In the bill’s first committee hearing, Democrats in the equally divided committee voiced concerns about gambling addiction while Republicans expressed worry about taxation, among other issues.
The bill’s first vote tied, with members of both parties in support and opposition. The tie meant the bill could not advance.
Proponents tried other workarounds during the 2025 session, but the bill never got a second vote.
Advocates within and without the legislature will work in the coming months to drum up support. But even if the bill passes next year, legal sports betting is likely at least 18 months away in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Hawaii sports betting bill’s unexpected run falls just short
Hawaii makes more progress than ever before
Hawaii and Utah are the only states without a state lottery, casino, or horse track. Hawaiian tourism interests have worked to keep out gambling – and Nevada casinos, which see hundreds of thousands of annual visits from the Islands – have worked to keep their customers coming to them.
Those forces, along with centuries of gambling prohibition and the lack of a neighboring state to snatch residents’ dollars, have prevented any gambling form in Hawaii. That appeared set to change in 2025.
A bill that would legalize at least four commercial mobile sportsbooks marched through both the House and Senate, passing the respective chambers with bipartisan support. Though many of the recurring fears about gambling addiction led some lawmakers to oppose the bill, the potential for new revenues and the existence of offshore and unregulated mobile books generating billions off Hawaiians was enough to pass the bills through the legislature.
All that remained was a conference committee of House and Senate members to work out differences including tax rate and regulatory authority in versions passed by both chambers. Instead, the working group could not reach a compromise, and the bill died just short of passage.
Hawaii sports betting advocates are no doubt encouraged by the unexpected run, especially after previous efforts never made it past one vote. But 2025’s failure underscores the political difficulties facing legal sports betting in a state that has never legalized any prior gambling.
Oklahoma sportsbook efforts remain in limbo
Oklahoma tribes remain willing to wait
Oklahoma has dozens of casinos, practically all of which would appreciate the opportunity to open a sportsbook. But offering a new, relatively low-margin gambling form isn’t as important to the operating tribes as is the structure of the deal that allows them to do so.
With the exception of state lottery and horse tracks, Oklahoma gambling is run by the state’s roughly three-dozen recognized gambling tribes. The tribes have a compact with the state that gives them exclusive rights to offer slots, table games and other common casino offerings.
To open sportsbooks, the tribes must strike a deal with the Oklahoma governor. That has proven a massive stumbling block.
Gov. Kevin Stitt has opposed any sports betting deal that gives tribes exclusive rights, preferring a more open model that includes the tracks, lottery, the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder and other commercial businesses. The tribes have subsequently opposed any gambling expansion that infringes on their exclusivity.
State legislators worked on a bill that give tribes exclusive sportsbook rights if approved by voters on the 2026 ballot. This bill would not be subject to Stitt’s veto.
The bill passed the House but was not brought up for a final vote in the Senate. Oklahoma tribes, in the meantime, are willing to wait for a deal on their terms, even if that means pausing until Stitt leaves office in January 2027.
