When the Supreme Court struck down PASPA on 14 May 2018 it did not create a national market. It created dozens of them, each with its own statute, regulator, tax rate and product rules. This is how the differences work, what they cost operators and suppliers, and why they are not converging.
Key takeaways
- Dozens Of Rulebooks: Each state that legalised after 14 May 2018 wrote its own statute, appointed its own regulator and set its own tax, fees and product rules
- Tax Range: Rates run from 6.75 percent in Nevada to 51 percent in New York, and Ohio in 2023 and Illinois in 2024 and 2025 raised theirs after launch
- Vendors Need Licences Too: Platform, data, geolocation, identity and marketing suppliers typically need a registration or licence in each state before an operator can use them
- Specialists Enter: Only 49 of 310 licensed operators reviewed by Gamblers Connect run a sportsbook alongside casino, so US entrants are mostly sports specialists or platform led brands
How the end of PASPA created dozens of markets
US sports betting regulation by state is the product of one court decision and dozens of legislatures. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act had barred most states from authorising sports betting since 1992. When the US Supreme Court struck it down on 14 May 2018, the decision passed to state legislatures, and each one that has legalised since has written its own statute, appointed its own regulator and set its own tax rate, licence fees and product rules. There is no federal sports betting licence and no federal regulator. For an operator or supplier, “the US market” is a set of separate markets with separate entry costs, separate compliance teams and separate timelines. The changes since are tracked on the North America iGaming news page on Gamblers Connect, which follows regulation, launches and enforcement across the region as they happen.
The structural differences
Online, retail and tethering
Some states authorise online betting statewide, some retail only, and several tie online licences to land based casinos, racetracks or tribal operators, which means market access depends on a partnership before it depends on a product. The number of online licences available is capped in many states, and the partner that holds the land based licence often takes a share of revenue for lending it.
Sports betting tax rates by state, and how they move
Tax rates run from 6.75 percent of revenue in Nevada to 51 percent in New York, and several states have raised rates after launch. Ohio doubled its rate to 20 percent in 2023. Illinois moved to graduated rates in 2024 and added a per wager tax in 2025. A business case built on launch day rates has been wrong in several states within two years, so operators model tax as a variable rather than a constant.
Data, products and advertising
Several states require official league data for in play markets, which turns a commercial choice into a compliance obligation. Restrictions on college player props, limits on certain promotional structures and advertising standards vary by state, and a product configured for one market may need rebuilding for the next.
Supplier licensing: the burden nobody budgets for
Suppliers carry their own regulatory load, and the sportsbook vendor licence is the part of state by state sports betting laws that nobody budgets for. Platform providers, data companies, geolocation and identity vendors and marketing affiliates typically need a vendor registration or licence in each state, with background checks on key people, before an operator can use them there. The fees are usually modest compared with operator licences, but the timelines are not: a vendor licence can take months, and an operator cannot launch with an unlicensed supplier in the chain.
That makes supplier coverage a commercial argument. A vendor that can show registrations in the larger states shortens its clients’ launch timelines; one that cannot becomes the reason a launch slips. Suppliers that entered early built state coverage as a moat, and newer entrants pay for it in time.
Who actually enters
The multi product operator is rarer than the marketing suggests. Of 310 licensed operators reviewed by Gamblers Connect across the UKGC, MGA, Curaçao and Anjouan licences as of November 2026, only 49 run a sportsbook alongside their casino. Among UKGC licensees the figure is seven of 22. Sports betting is a trading and data business with thin margins and heavy regulatory overhead, and most casino brands buy it from a platform rather than build it, which is why US entrants are mostly sports specialists or platform led brands rather than casino operators adding a vertical.
Offshore sportsbooks and pay per head operations sit outside the state framework entirely. They are not regulated; they are enforced against, and the distinction matters to any supplier or publisher deciding who to work with.
Sequencing a US sports betting market entry
Operators prioritise states by population, tax rate and access cost, and suppliers follow their clients. The usual sequence is a partnership with a land based licence holder where tethering applies, state licensing for the operator and every supplier in the chain, product configuration to the state’s rules, and only then marketing. Compressing that sequence is how launches slip.
Following the changes
Legislatures revisit their statutes every session, and regulators issue rule changes between sessions. Tax increases, prop bet limits, advertising codes and responsible gambling mandates have all changed in several states since launch. Operators and suppliers follow that calendar closely. Gamblers Connect is an independent B2B iGaming media platform, founded in 2021, and carries no affiliate links.
Tribal gaming, compacts and market access
A large share of US casino gaming is run by tribal nations under compacts negotiated with their states, and several states have routed online sports betting through those compacts. In those markets a commercial operator enters as the technology and brand partner of a tribe rather than as a licensee in its own right, and the compact, not only the statute, decides what products may be offered and on what revenue split. For suppliers this adds a layer: the tribal gaming commission may have its own vendor registration process alongside the state’s.
Responsible gambling and advertising rules by state
Responsible gambling requirements differ as much as tax rates. Self exclusion registers are run state by state, so an operator in several states manages several lists with no shared infrastructure. Advertising rules range from general consumer protection standards to specific restrictions on messaging that targets college campuses or uses certain promotional language, and some states have moved to restrict marketing partnerships with universities. An affiliate or marketing supplier working across states needs a compliance matrix rather than a policy.
Fees, timelines and the regulator’s calendar
Licence fees vary as widely as tax rates, from tens of thousands of dollars in some states to USD 25 million for an online licence in New York, and several states charge annual renewal fees set by statute. A realistic plan also budgets for the regulator’s own timeline. Applications are reviewed by state staff with finite capacity, and launches cluster around the start of the American football season, so an application filed in spring competes with every other applicant aiming for September. Operators that have launched in several states keep a standing compliance team for the next one, because the paperwork is never finished; it is only current.
What suppliers should prepare before entering
Three documents shorten every state application. A corporate and ownership file that answers the background check questions once, so that each state’s version can be assembled rather than written. A product and technical file describing geolocation, identity verification and data handling in the terms regulators use. And a client file listing which operators in which states the supplier serves, because regulators ask, and because the answer is the supplier’s strongest argument for a quick approval.
Why US sports betting regulation by state is not converging
The frameworks are not converging. Interstate agreements exist for poker liquidity but not for sports betting, prediction markets have opened a new and contested regulatory front, and several states are revisiting tax and advertising rules in the same session. The caveat for anyone planning a US entry is that a product that works in New Jersey may need rebuilding for Illinois, and a supplier roster that is licensed in one may be months away from the other. The market is large; it is not uniform.
Frequently asked questions
Why does each US state have different sports betting rules?
Because the Supreme Court’s decision of 14 May 2018 struck down the federal ban rather than replacing it. Each state that legalised since wrote its own statute, appointed its own regulator and set its own tax rate, fees and product rules, and there is no federal licence.
What are the sports betting tax rates by state?
They range widely, from 6.75 percent of revenue in Nevada to 51 percent in New York, and they move. Ohio doubled its rate to 20 percent in 2023, and Illinois introduced graduated rates in 2024 and a per wager tax in 2025. Operators model tax as a variable rather than a constant.
Do suppliers need a licence in every state?
Typically yes. Platform providers, data companies, geolocation and identity vendors and marketing affiliates usually need a vendor registration or licence in each state, with background checks on key people, before an operator can use them there.
Sources
- Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, decided 14 May 2018. Supreme Court of the United States, 14 May 2018. https://www.supremecourt.gov/
- North America iGaming News and Regulation. Gamblers Connect, November 2026. https://gamblersconnect.com/news/region/north-america/
- Online Casino Reviews by Licence, 310 operators and sportsbook counts. Gamblers Connect, November 2026. https://gamblersconnect.com/casinos/
- State sports betting statutes and tax rates, as published by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, New York State Gaming Commission, Ohio Casino Control Commission and Illinois Gaming Board. State regulators, 2023 to 2025.
Data in this article comes from the Gamblers Connect casino directory and demo catalogue as dated above and may be cited with attribution to Gamblers Connect.