Sports Betting Laws In The United States
Aside from just clicking on different odds and betting on them, there are different sports betting laws that you’ll want to at least be informed on. Legal USA sportsbooks do have to follow these laws in order to operate at the regulated level. Our job is to make sure you at least know the basics on the legal side of the sports betting industry and know what you can and can't do when it comes to sports betting and we’ll lay out both the laws and the best legal betting sites that you can use.
Federal Sports Betting Laws In The U.S.
There are three main legal sports betting laws that you need to know of that are the pillars for using both online and in person sportsbooks. Those are the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIEGA), the Wire Act, and the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
This is geared more towards the online sports betting industry and the deposits that you make with a credit card. Often when you make a credit or debit card deposit, the transaction will get flagged and you’ll need to verify that you are making the transaction. Once you do so, your deposit will go through.
Federal Wire Act of 1961
The Wire Act is in place prohibiting you from being able to place bets both online and in person through a proxy when you are not in that state. For example, if you are in a state that does not have a regulated sports betting market, you are not allowed to call in your bet to another state for someone to place in person or have someone place an online bet with an online sportsbook in another state.
Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act
PASPA, which was overturned in 2018, allows for states across the US to come up with their own legal sports betting laws. With that, states can restrict what you can and cannot bet on, decide whether they want to offer both online and in person sports betting, and also create a tax that the sports betting companies have to pay.
Best Legal Sports Betting Sites
The legal sports betting sites that we recommend can all be deemed elite and are each in a category of their own when it comes to their benefits. Allowing these to be legal online sportsbooks are the fact that they are licensed and hold their operations overseas with the ability to accept bettors from the United States.
BOVADA SPORTSBOOK
Bovada is one of the best legal online sportsbooks out there and they have built a huge name for themselves since 2011 when they first began accepting bets from the US. They have all of the offerings as one of the regulated online sportsbooks and sometimes even more in terms of what you can bet on. All of their benefits are easily accessible and they are always advertising their bonuses.
- Top-Rated Sportsbook
- Accepts Crypto
- Team and Player Props
- Quickest Payouts
BETONLINE SPORTSBOOK
Something that you can do at BetOnline which you can't do at other regulated online sportsbooks is use cryptocurrency to place your bets. You can do so by directly linking your crypto wallet to your BetOnline account and sending your funds too and from your wallet. The benefit of betting with crypto is that there are no transaction fees and the quickest processing times for deposits and withdrawals as well.
- Deposit With Crypto
- Bet On Sports Around The World
- In-Game Betting
- Timely Payouts
SPORTSBETTING SPORTSBOOK
While you can bet on hundreds of different sports at SportsBetting.ag, they are known for offering some of the craziest bets on topics you can't even imagine. You could bet on different political races from around the world, award shows like the Grammys and Oscars and even bet on the weather in major cities from across the world.
- Welcomes USA Players
- Solid Reputation
- Competitive Odds
- Crypto-Friendly