Governor Chris Christie initiated a legal battle over sports betting in 20 when a state referendum and a subsequent law legalizing sports betting prompted the NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL to enjoin the new law in New Jersey.

It is largely thanks to New Jersey that the federal sports betting prohibition has been overturned. The decision also marked a new high point in a long and winding US sports betting timeline by paving the way for states to bring the industry out of the shadows and into the light of regulation.īelow you’ll find a map of legal US sports betting and state-specific information after that. New Jersey’s victory and the Supreme Court’s final decision opened the doors for individual states to legalize and regulate sports betting. That decision ended a years-long legal battle pitting the state of New Jersey against federal law, the NCAA, and the four major professional sports leagues. For over 25 years, a federal law ( PASPA) prevented most US states from legalizing sports betting.Įverything changed in May of 2018 when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled the federal sports betting ban unconstitutional.

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