U.S. Gambling Wins Big at the 2020 Election as More States Approve Legal Sports Betting

By Tom Nightingale

November 6, 2020

The U.S. gambling industry saw some big wins at the polls on Tuesday, with six states making tangible progress.

All three states - Maryland, South Dakota and Louisiana - that had measures on their ballots to approve legal sports betting votes yes.

Per Yahoo, the races weren't even close. More than two-thirds of Maryland's voters said yes and more than 58 percent agreed in South Dakota. Meanwhile, most election parishes in Louisiana also approved the idea. That brings the number of states that allow legal sports betting to 25, according to the American Gaming Association.

Meanwhile, Virginia approved casino gambling in four locations, Nebraska authorized adding casino games at its horse racing tracks, and Colorado expanded the number and type of casino games it can offer, along with eliminating some wagering limits.

"It appears that Americans are becoming increasingly comfortable with legalized gambling," David Schwartz, a gambling historian with the University of Nevada Las Vegas, said, according to The Associated Press. "The addition of casinos in Virginia and racetrack casinos in Nebraska indicates that casino-style gambling is on the upswing as well. We have reached a point where voters seem satisfied that legalizing gambling will offer positive returns for their state."

These moves from various states come soon after Illinois pushed forwards by greatly expanding the mobile wagering options available to the state's 12.7 million residents. There is also active legislation focused on sports betting in three states: Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Ohio.