Verticals / Esports betting
Esports betting
Esports betting is legal and live in 12 states and DC, as of Oct 11, 2026. 8 states allow it in a limited form.
Wagering on esports events.
LiveLegal, not launchedLimitedContestedProhibitedNot authorizedRepealedNA
By state
| State | Status | Launched | Model | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Live | Competitive | The 2021 event-wagering law (SB 1797) that created Arizona's sports-wagering framework expressly authorizes "accepting wagers on sports, including e-sports, or other events" by ADG-licensed operators or tribes under compact; ADG's event-wagering rule (R19-4-101) defines "Event Wager" broadly to cover "sports events or other events." | |
| Connecticut | Live | Hybrid | Esports wagering is regulated as sports wagering: DCP's own Gaming Division knowledge base defines an "intercollegiate tournament" as "an intercollegiate e-sports, sporting or athletic event involving four or more teams," and legislative analysis of HB 6451 (enacted as PA 21-23) found Connecticut's "sporting event" definition, like Maryland's, Arizona's, and Wyoming's, covers "electronic sports"/"e-sports"/"video game competitions." Offered by the three Master Wagering Licensees' sportsbooks. | |
| District of Columbia | Live | Hybrid | DC's statutory definition of "sporting event" for sports-wagering purposes expressly includes "esports event," so licensed sportsbook operators may take esports wagers under the same sports-wagering licenses. | |
| Florida | Live | Monopoly Tribal | The 2021 Seminole compact's sports-betting definition does not name esports specifically, but the Seminole-operated Hard Rock Bet sportsbook has live esports wagering markets in Florida: eSoccer (launched Nov. 2024, on EA Sports FC), eBasketball, eFootball (via SIS's H2HGGL league), and table-tennis (Setka Cup, via Beter's Florida vendor registration), with further esports content from Beter/EsportsBattle reported as forthcoming. No separate statute or regulator ruling on esports wagering was identified; it operates under the existing compact framework. | |
| Kentucky | Live | Competitive | Statute explicitly lists wagerable events to include 'Electronic sports, e-sports, and competitive video game events' alongside professional, college, amateur and international sporting events. | |
| Maine | Live | Competitive | Esports is an approved wager category under the MGCU-approved operator catalogs: the DraftKings Sportsbook Maine Wagering Catalog (as of 03.19.26) lists "19. eSports" with specific approved leagues/events (Call of Duty League, CS:GO incl. BLAST Premier/ESL/ DreamHack/IEM, League of Legends incl. LCK/LCS/LEC/Worlds, Dota 2, NBA 2K League, Overwatch League, Rainbow Six, Valorant). 8 M.R.S. §1202 does not itself define "esports," but sports wagering is permitted on any event approved through the operator-catalog process under Gambling Control Unit sports-wagering rulemaking (Ch. 51 "universal list"), and esports events have been approved via that mechanism. | |
| Missouri | Live | Competitive | Voters approved sports wagering via Amendment 2 in November 2024; regulated retail and online wagering launched statewide Dec. 1, 2025. Secondary reporting at launch confirmed that, under the new regulations, bettors can wager on esports in addition to other major sporting events; the Missouri Gaming Commission awarded the 2 untethered mobile licenses to DraftKings and Circa Sports, with other operators requiring an in-state partner. The specific MGC rule/catalog mechanism for approving individual esports titles/events was not independently located this session. | |
| North Carolina | Live | Competitive | S.L. 2023-42 (H.B. 347) defines "sports governing body" to include, for electronic sports, the video game publisher of the title used in the competition (regardless of the publisher's location), and directs the Lottery Commission to license 10-12 interactive sports wagering operators to take wagers on events including "electronic sports," among other categories, plus any other event the Commission approves. In September 2024 the Commission approved Electronic Sports Guidance describing its Gaming Compliance and Sports Wagering Division's approach to regulating esports wagering and a petition process for adding specific esports events/titles to the state's approved wagering catalog (wagers on non-catalog events are prohibited). | |
| Tennessee | Live | Competitive | Esports wagering is offered by licensed sports wagering operators under the Sports Gaming Act framework (consistent with other SWC-regulated "sporting events" wagering); not separately itemized in sources reviewed. | |
| Vermont | Live | Jan 11, 2024 | Competitive | Vermont's sports-wagering catalog (effective with the Jan. 11, 2024 launch of DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics) includes 24 sanctioned esports events (e.g., World of Warcraft Arena World Championship, Madden Championship Series, FIFA Global Series, Overwatch World Cup, League of Legends, NBA 2K League), available to all licensed operators under 31 V.S.A. ch. 25 and the Dept. of Liquor and Lottery's Sports Wagering Procedures. |
| Virginia | Live | Competitive | Licensed online sportsbooks offer esports as a wagering market under the same sports-betting permits; no separate esports statute. | |
| West Virginia | Live | Competitive | HB 4826 (passed by the Legislature March 2022, per the enrolled bill effective roughly 90 days after passage) amended the Sports Wagering Act's definitions section to add "e-sports event" to the statutory definition of "sporting event" alongside professional, collegiate, and motor-race events, without added restrictions -- so licensed sports-wagering operators may post and accept esports wagers under the same framework as traditional sports. | |
| Wyoming | Live | Competitive | Confirmed via the statute text itself: "sporting event," the wagerable-event term used throughout the Online Sports Wagering Act, is statutorily defined to include "electronic sports" alongside professional/collegiate/Olympic/amateur sports. Esports wagering is therefore authorized under the same online sports wagering licenses, with no separate esports-specific licensing category. | |
| Colorado | Limited | Competitive | No standalone esports-wagering statute exists, but Division of Gaming Sports Betting Rule 1 (1 CCR 207-2) lets the Division approve specific esports events for wagering under the general sports-wagering licensed-operator framework, rather than creating a dedicated esports market. | |
| Massachusetts | Limited | Competitive | Esports wagers are permissible only if specifically authorized in the MGC's Sports Wagering Catalog under 205 CMR 247.01 ("Authorized and Prohibited Sporting Events and Wager Categories"); a confirmed, current esports-specific catalog entry was not independently verified this session. | |
| Michigan | Limited | Competitive | The Act's "athletic event" definition (MCL 432.403) covers sports activity involving athletic skill and excludes casino games, youth sports and fantasy contests, but also allows wagering on "other events approved by the board." Esports is not separately named in statute; whether specific esports titles/events have been board-approved for wagering was not confirmed this session. | |
| Nebraska | Limited | Competitive | The NRGC's Authorized Sports Wagering Menu (July 22, 2026) lists "Electronic Sports" as an approved wager-event category under Title 296, 13.003.02, with an Esports section (p. 12) naming specific approved titles/leagues including Call of Duty League, League of Legends Worlds/LEC/LCK/LPL/LCS, Dota 2 (ESL Pro League, DreamLeague, Esports World Cup), Counter-Strike 2 (ESL Pro League; PGL CS2 is "NO IN-GAME WAGERS"), and others, several marked "NO IN-GAME WAGERS" as a wager-type restriction. The companion Rejected/Restricted Wagers document also has an Esports heading (p. 4), confirming some esports events/markets have been turned down even as others are approved. As with all Nebraska sports wagering, esports betting is retail-only, in person at licensed racetrack-casino sportsbooks; no online/mobile channel is authorized. | |
| Nevada | Limited | Competitive | Nevada sports pools may seek Gaming Control Board approval to offer wagering on individual esports events on a case-by-case basis under the general sports-pool event-approval process (NRS 463.01865), similar to other special sports-pool event approvals, but this is not a blanket statutory authorization of esports as a wagering category. | |
| New Jersey | Limited | Nov 2019 | Competitive | A 2021 amendment lets DGE-approved esports tournaments count as "sporting events" sportsbooks can take wagers on; operators must give DGE 72 hours' written notice per new event/wager type. DGE first approved wagering on the League of Legends World Championship in Nov. 2019 (capped at $1,000/bettor, no in-play betting). Esports Entertainment Group holds a transactional waiver as an esports-only operator affiliated with Bally's AC; standard per-bet/payout caps have been reported at $100 wagered / $500 payout, though DGE can adjust them. |
| Ohio | Limited | Competitive | ORC 3775 does not name esports specifically, but the Casino Control Commission has approved esports wagering as part of licensed sportsbooks' offerings on a case-by-case basis under its sports-gaming rulemaking authority. notes: secondary source only | |
| Washington | Limited | Monopoly Tribal | Corrected after fetching and parsing the bill text directly: HB 2638's "sports wagering" definition (new RCW 9.46 section, Sec. 11) explicitly lists "[a]n electronic sports or esports competition or event" alongside professional/collegiate/Olympic events, and separately defines "electronic or esports event" as a live, publicly watched tournament where players/teams can win a prize based on performance. An earlier pass had incorrectly inferred esports was excluded without having read the bill text; esports wagering is therefore authorized on the same tribal-casino/geofenced-mobile basis as other sports wagering, not a separate unauthorized category. | |
| Mississippi | Contested | The current Mississippi Gaming Commission "sports pool" rule defines it as the business of accepting wagers on "collegiate or professional sporting events or athletic events or other similar events," without naming esports; whether esports fall under "other similar events" has no published Commission interpretation. A House-passed 2024 bill (H.B. 774) would have explicitly defined "sporting event" to include "electronic sports events, competitive video game events, and other events the Commission authorizes," but this research could not confirm it was enacted into law. | ||
| Hawaii | Prohibited | No carve-out exists; covered by the general gambling prohibition. | ||
| Idaho | Prohibited | Wagering on esports is "gambling" under the general definition; no carve-out exists. | ||
| Utah | Prohibited | Wagering on esports outcomes is "gambling" (risking value on a chance-influenced contest outcome for return) under the same general ban as sports wagering. | ||
| Alabama | Not authorized | No statute authorizes esports wagering; would require the same constitutional amendment as other sports-betting proposals. | ||
| Alaska | Not authorized | No carve-out exists; falls under the general gambling prohibition. | ||
| Arkansas | Not authorized | Casino Gaming Rule 20.010(21) defines "sports event"/"sporting event" as a professional, amateur, collegiate, or motor-race athletic event, and restricts wagering to live events involving human athletes, expressly excluding "any virtual or simulated event." No esports-specific carve-out or Racing Commission approval was found, so esports wagering is not authorized under the current sports-wagering rule. | ||
| California | Not authorized | Not separately authorized by statute. California has no legal sports wagering of any kind (both 2022 ballot measures failed); esports wagering would fall under the same general Penal Code 337a prohibition on sports/event wagering that already makes conventional sports betting not_authorized, so this is resolved to not_authorized rather than left unknown. | ||
| Delaware | Not authorized | Delaware's "sports lottery" definition (29 Del. C. § 4805; 10 Del. Admin. Code § 204-2.0) is limited to "the outcome of any professional or collegiate sport or sporting event," with no reference to esports or electronic sporting events. House Bill 365 (152nd General Assembly, 2023-24) would have expanded the definition to include "amateur and electronic sporting events" as part of a broader mobile-sports-wagering overhaul, but it stalled in House Appropriations and did not become law. | ||
| Georgia | Not authorized | No statute authorizes wagering on esports; general gambling prohibition applies. | ||
| Illinois | Not authorized | The Sports Wagering Act's definition of "sports event" is not confirmed to include esports; no IGB guidance locating esports wagering under the Act was found. Treated as unauthorized absent explicit inclusion. | ||
| Indiana | Not authorized | Indiana's sports-wagering definition (HEA 1015, 2019) expressly excludes wagering on e-sports from "sports wagering," so esports wagering is not authorized under IC 4-38; no other statute authorizes it. | ||
| Iowa | Not authorized | Iowa Code ch. 99F defines "sports wagering" as wagers on an "authorized sporting event" (professional, collegiate, or international sporting events). Per a 2020 legal-industry analysis, the Iowa Attorney General's office opined that esports is a simulated contest governed by ch. 99E (fantasy/simulated-game wagering), not a "sport or authorized sporting event" under ch. 99F, so traditional esports betting (wagering against a sportsbook on match outcomes) is not authorized; a related proposal for IRGC-regulated "fantasy esports" under ch. 99E was reported approved instead. No later IRGC rule or AG opinion revisiting this was found. | ||
| Kansas | Not authorized | KRGC's sports-wagering regulations (1 K.A.R. 112-201-1 et seq., permanently adopted 2026 per 2026 Senate Sub. for SB 356) define "sports event" and "sports wagering" without reference to esports in the portions located; a 2020 legislative description of the sports-wagering bill defines a sports event as excluding horse/greyhound races under the Parimutuel Racing Act and events where a majority of participants are minors, again without addressing esports. No KRGC guidance, license, or enforcement action on esports wagering specifically was found. | ||
| Louisiana | Not authorized | Louisiana's Sports Wagering Control Act excludes esports from authorized wagering: its "sports event"/"sporting event" definition expressly carves out a "prohibited event," defined to include "all high school sports or youth athletic events, electronic sports, and competitive video games." Bill-text sources describing this exclusion were reviewed, but the current codified R.S. 27:602 text could not be fetched directly in this session (PDF not machine-readable), so this is confirmed via search-result summary rather than a verbatim page excerpt. | ||
| Maryland | Not authorized | No Maryland statute or regulator statement authorizes third-party wagering markets on esports match outcomes. Chapter 338 of 2019 (the 'eSports Act,' HB 48, signed by Gov. Hogan April 30, 2019, effective October 1, 2019) is a distinct, narrower enactment: it clarifies that skill-based esports competitions are not illegal gambling under Md. Criminal Law S 12-102 and lets competition sponsors award prize money/merchandise to winners. An earlier draft of that bill included language banning betting on results, but it was removed before passage -- commentary at the time read the removal as implicitly recognizing participant entry fees rather than as authorizing third-party sportsbook-style wagering on esports outcomes. No separate statute or SWARC/MLGCC action brings esports within the licensed sports-wagering framework (contrast with West Virginia's 2022 HB 4826, which did so explicitly). | ||
| Minnesota | Not authorized | Minnesota has not legalized sports wagering of any kind (see `sports_retail`/`sports_online`), so esports betting is likewise not authorized. "Sports bookmaking" remains a defined, prohibited activity. 2025-2026 legislative efforts to legalize statewide mobile sports wagering (e.g., SF 3414 in 2025; a bipartisan SF 4139, introduced March 2026, allowing up to 11 mobile sportsbooks at a 22% tax) have included esports in their proposed definitions -- the Dept. of Revenue's analysis of SF 3414 described wagering on "athletic events, esports events, college sports events, a fantasy sports contest, or other approved events" for 21-plus bettors -- but no such bill has been enacted as of this research pass. | ||
| Montana | Not authorized | No statutory carve-out; the Lottery's sports-wagering monopoly covers traditional sports only, and esports wagering would otherwise fall under the general internet-gambling ban. | ||
| New Hampshire | Not authorized | N.H. Code Admin. R. Lot 3000 (sports wagering rules under RSA 287-I) never defines "sporting event" and requires the Lottery Commission to approve wager categories only for events whose outcomes are verifiable via a reliable, independent process, citing bodies "such as the NBA, NFL, and NCAA" as examples (Lot 3003.02(b)-(c)); esports is not named anywhere in the rule. DraftKings is the state's sole licensed sports-wagering operator (both retail and the mobile platform) under its 2019 contract with the Lottery Commission, and no source reviewed confirms the Commission has approved an esports event category for New Hampshire. Treated as not_authorized rather than unknown, given the Commission's approval-based framework and the absence of any esports approval, catalog listing, or operator announcement found. | ||
| New Mexico | Not authorized | No statute authorizes wagering on esports specifically; same absence of any sports-wagering statute applies as for sports_online. | ||
| New York | Not authorized | Confirmed directly against the regulation text (9 NYCRR §§ 5300-5330, fetched and searched in full this pass): § 5329.1(b)'s definitions, § 5330.1's definitions, and RPWBL § 1367(1) itself contain no reference to esports, electronic sports, or video games anywhere. "Sports event" is defined only as "any professional sport or athletic event and any collegiate sport or athletic event, except a prohibited sports event" (RPWBL § 1367(1)(t)), with "sport"/"athletic event" themselves undefined. Under § 5329.13(a)-(b) (incorporated for mobile wagering by § 5330.13), a casino/mobile sports-wagering licensee may not offer wagers on "any event that is not a sports event," and each sport, league or organization must be affirmatively submitted to and approved by the Commission before wagering on it is permitted -- the Commission, not operators, controls the menu. No esports league or event was found on any published Commission approval, and the Commission's own sports-wagering overview page and its sports-league-restriction-request page make no mention of esports. A Feb. 4, 2026 Commission letter asking leagues to help shape permitted wagering types (reported by Duane Morris) reiterates that the Commission "retains that authority in New York by enumerating which sports, leagues and wager types are approved for betting." A secondary US legal-esports-betting tracker (esports.net) places New York among states that have legalized sports betting generally but have not clarified esports wagering specifically, rather than among states with a confirmed esports market (by contrast, Nebraska's and New Jersey's published catalogs do name esports titles/leagues). No NY-specific operator esports market list was found. On the totality of this record -- an enumerated-approval regime with no confirmed esports approval anywhere -- this is marked not_authorized rather than left unknown. | ||
| North Dakota | Not authorized | Mirrors sports_online/sports_retail: no North Dakota statute authorizes sports wagering of any kind outside the five tribal casinos' Class III compacts (interpreted by the tribes as already covering retail sports wagering), and the state constitution limits legal gambling to lottery, licensed charitable gaming, and tribal compact gaming, so statewide commercial sports or esports wagering would require a constitutional amendment (per a 2026 tribal-gaming-industry report, the earliest realistic path is a Nov. 2028 ballot measure). No source reviewed describes any of the tribal sportsbooks (Dakota Nation Sportsbook, Spirit Lake, Sky Dancer, 4 Bears) as offering esports wagering specifically, so esports betting is treated as not_authorized rather than limited. | ||
| Oklahoma | Not authorized | Not a covered game under the compact and no separate statute authorizes esports wagering. | ||
| Oregon | Not authorized | The Scoreboard/DraftKings sports-betting rule's own "sporting event" definition (OAR 177-092-0010) defines a sporting event as "a game, match, race, or similar competitive event associated with a governing body," with no explicit mention of esports either including or excluding it (unlike Washington's HB 2638, which explicitly lists esports). A 2022 Oregon State Lottery legislative presentation described the sports-betting program as digital-only, 21+, geofenced, and limited to "professional sports," and the program's original 2019 launch and later DraftKings-era coverage name only traditional leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, NWSL, NASCAR). One undated secondary guide (Action Network) lists esports as an approved Oregon betting category, but this conflicts with the more authoritative 2022 Lottery presentation and was not corroborated by an official Lottery source; weighing the sources, treated as not_authorized rather than operational or unknown. | ||
| Pennsylvania | Not authorized | Pennsylvania's sports-wagering statute defines "sporting event" as "a professional or collegiate sports or athletic event or a motor race event"; the Gaming Control Board has opined that because esports is not listed in that definition, the Board lacks statutory authority to approve esports wagering (per a 2021 law-firm legislative alert and the sponsor's own bill memo: "Our laws do not provide the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) with this authority"). Rep. Ed Neilson's bill to add esports to the "sporting event" definition (first introduced around 2021, reintroduced as House Bill 1636 in 2025) had not been confirmed enacted as of this research. | ||
| Rhode Island | Not authorized | As of this research, Rhode Island's sportsbook (operated under IGT's monopoly contract) does not offer esports betting, per a dedicated secondary report; coverage of Bally's securing the state's second online sports-wagering license (2026) notes esports "could appear on the app when it launches" once Bally Bet goes live in Rhode Island, but this is prospective and not yet confirmed authorized or offered. | ||
| South Carolina | Not authorized | No statute authorizes wagering on esports; would fall under the general prohibitions on betting and gambling machines. H.3625 would permit esports wagering if enacted but has not passed. | ||
| South Dakota | Not authorized | South Dakota's sports-wagering catalogue (approved sporting-events/wager-type list) is confined to major professional/college sports, UFC, CFL, PBR, MLS, and international leagues per operator/vendor descriptions of the Deadwood sportsbook offering; no source reviewed lists esports among the Commission's approved categories, and no esports-specific authorization, statute, or catalogue entry was identified. | ||
| Texas | Not authorized | No statute distinguishes esports wagering from traditional sports wagering; it falls under the same general prohibition. | ||
| Wisconsin | Not authorized | Wisconsin sports wagering exists only through tribal-state gaming compact amendments (9 of 11 federally recognized tribes as of late 2024), which authorize wagering on professional leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, etc.), pro drafts, and nationally televised awards shows, with an under-19 participant-age restriction; no amendment or source reviewed mentions esports. Gov. Evers signed AB 601 (2026-04-09) authorizing a statewide online/mobile hub-and-spoke model routed through tribal-land servers, but statewide online sports wagering (and any esports catalog) had not launched as of this research pass pending further compact amendments. |