2024 isn’t just going to be an exciting year for college football in the US. More American states are taking steps towards legalizing sports betting. Canada too is seeing their gambling industry go from strength to strength after recent law changes and more information is available via this link.
It was back in 2018 that a US Supreme Court Judge made a highly significant ruling. It led to the final decision on whether sports betting was made legal to the individual state, not the Federal Government.
Since then, over 30 US states have legalized sports betting and 2024 is going to see that trend continue. First to take that big step has been Vermont who launched mobile sports betting on January 11.
That was a good new year’s present for sports gamblers and also of course, gambling companies looking to expand their business. Fanatics Sportsbook, FanDuel and DraftKings were all granted licenses to legally operate in Vermont.
For Governor Scot it was the end of a long road that began several years ago. He’s long been a supporter of making sports betting legal in the state. It was in June 2023 that he signed the bill that would finally make it legal to bet on sports in Vermont.
It does take a while to get from passing a law to the launch date. Several months were needed to put all the regulations in place and to go through the many applications and decide just which companies would be granted licenses.
For the governor, one key reason for making sports betting legal is to “generate revenue for the State.” Players will be able to gamble using traditional payment methods or new cryptocurrencies.
Another is to ensure that there is protection for those who wish to go online and bet on sport. That’s not always the case when players go online and place wagers at unlicensed and therefore unregulated gambling sites.
Moves are also being made in North Carolina as the expansion of the US gambling market continues. It won’t however see fantasy sports being part of any regulated industry. That was agreed at the second round of regulations. The decision was made to concentrate fully on sports betting. Again, finances played a major part in the decision due to sports betting being far more lucrative.
When a US state is looking at making sports betting legal, promoting safe gambling is extremely important. Already North Carolina has recommended that terms such as “free” and “risk-free” not be included in any marketing information, unless no material risk to the player and their account balance exists.
Those who are granted licenses to operate in North Carolina also need to explain how they intend to protect customers and offer them support. Celebrity or entertainer endorsements for their product must not be used in marketing material. With these and more regulations in place, it’s hoped that a sports betting market can safely launch in North Carolina.
