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Best U.S. States for Sports Betting in 2023: Top 10 List

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Griffin Queen
<p>AP Photos</p>

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Top 10 States for Sports Betting in the United States

In 2023, sports betting is more prevalent and ubiquitous in popular culture than ever before. With the advent of popular sportsbooks and daily fantasy companies like DraftKings, FanDuel, and numerous others, along with promotional agreements with the major American sports leagues, sports betting is a bigger facet of the sports conversation than ever before.

With that rise in popularity has come additional legalization across the United States. With so many states now legalizing sports betting in various forms, we’re going to break down the best states for sports betting as of 2023.

10. Mississippi

Coming in at No. 10 on our list is Mississippi. Mississippi has both a mobile and retail betting presence within the state, however there are specific restrictions on where locals are allowed to bet.

They can only utilize mobile betting within the confines of a registered retail sportsbook, which admittedly lowers the value and convenience of their sports betting options.

Beyond that, Mississippi doesn’t have online betting options, although legislators will likely be encouraged to change that in the near future to improve the convenience of sports betting.

At this time, the below books are available within Mississippi:

9. Tennessee

As one of the most recent states to legalize sports betting, Tennessee is hitting our list at No. 9. While they have an online and mobile presence, they don’t currently have or allow physical retail locations.

That said, as Tennessee has only allowed sports betting for under a year at this point, there will likely be a push for retail locations as well once the state reaps the rewards of the tax benefits from their online/mobile books. 

At this time, the below books are available within Tennessee:

8. West Virginia

One of the earlier states to implement sports betting (2018), West Virginia is coming in at No. 8 on our list. With a variety of both physical and online books that locals and visitors can utilize, the Mountain State has options for everyone (of legal age) looking to place a wager.

As West Virginia has both physical and online books, we’ll specifically note the online books below.

Online Books:

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7. Iowa

One of the states that benefited from legalizing sports betting prior to the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Iowa is coming in at No. 7 on our list, having legalized sports betting in 2019.

While Iowa doesn’t have any major pro teams of its own, it does have both retail and online sports books. We’ll break down the online books below.

Online Books:

6. Indiana

Another state that legalized sports betting in 2019 was Indiana, coming in at No. 6 on our list. Retail locations began opening in September 2019, with online books going live a month later.

Like many states that legalized prior to 2020, they were able to continue to operate their online books during the return of sports in mid-2020 and were able to generate revenue that other states without legalized sports betting unfortunately missed out on.

As a state with a heavy sports-fan culture, legalized sports betting has been huge for Indiana. We’ll note the different online book options below.

5. Colorado

Coming in at No. 5 on our list is one of the more recent states to legalize sports betting, having only implemented it in the latter half of 2020.

Despite that, Colorado has already generated over a billion dollars in bets in the two years that betting has been possible. Colorado has granted all of its 30+ casinos the ability to enable online sports betting for users within state lines, and the majority of casinos have implemented online betting options, with both major brands and local sports books. Check out the full list of book options below.

4. Illinois

Despite only implementing sports betting in 2020, Illinois has generated almost $2 billion in sports handles in the two years that it has been around, and is coming in just outside the top 3, at No. 4 on our list.

With a multitude of college teams and major professional sports teams, Illinois sports bettors have no shortage of local teams to bet on, as well as no shortage of books with which to do their betting. Having recently removed the in-person registration requirement for betting, betting is now easier than ever, and users can utilize the books below.

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3. Pennsylvania

Cracking the top 3 on this list is Pennsylvania, a state that has generated almost $4 billion in sports handles since it’s legalization in 2019. Pennsylvania is absolutely one of the top sports markets in the country, and consequently, it’s also one of the top betting markets. With one of the biggest markets comes a large list of options for books, which you can check out below.

2. Nevada

There should be no surprise that Nevada is somewhere in our top 3, as it’s possibly the state most famous for its gambling opportunities in the US and is globally recognized for its betting markets.

As one of the preeminent betting locations on Earth, sports betting has been legal here for decades, and online sports betting has been legal since 2010, beating out the vast majority of our list by almost a decade.

The one major drawback to online sports betting in Nevada, and the one thing keeping it out of our top spot is the in-person registration requirement for online sports betting.

While locations to do so are numerous, it’s just one major factor that prevents Nevada from being quite as convenient as other states.

The Nevada list of books includes almost 200 possible books, so we won’t list them below, but all major brands & many local ones make up the list of options.  

1. New Jersey

Claiming the top spot on this list of the top sports betting sites is New Jersey.

While New Jersey doesn’t have quite the history of online sports betting that Nevada does, they have a highly competitive market of different books to choose from, easy registration, and a huge number of in-person locations for those who prefer to do their betting at retail locations. 

Since their launch in 2018, the full list below of books have become available for sports bettors in New Jersey.

Betting in the United States is easier than ever, as more and more states legalize online sports betting and streamline the regulations and registration process to make sports betting easy and efficient for users.

This list could look very different in a year or two, but as of right now, these are the ten best sports betting states in the US.