Are Online Sportsbooks Legal?

Bet online

The answer to this question can be a bit tricky, but basically – depending on your countries laws – they are.

The reason as to why this question generates a complicated answer is because they may be legal – or not – depending on which country, state, or province you live in. Some places have banned online gambling sites from having their offices in their territory, but allow you to gamble online. On the other hand, there are places that welcome companies that work with the online gambling industry and allow them to establish their offices in their territory. Then you have those places where everything related to gambling is banned, including physical casinos, online sportsbooks, and online casinos among others. Finally, you have any other combination you can think of regarding these variables (places that allow offline gambling but not online gambling, those that allow online gambling but not offline gambling, etc…).

If you think about the amount of places that allow online sportsbooks to operate and how many allow online gambling, then it’s pretty much decided that – from a global perspective – online sportsbooks are legal.

It all depends on perspective; even within the U.S.A. – where online sportsbooks and gambling is constantly debated in courtrooms – most states allow gamblers to bet online as long as it’s in a legally approved site.

However, there will always be obstacles for gamblers in these places. Take for example the fact that U.S. funding sources like PayPal and credit cards don’t allow funds to be transferred to online sportsbooks or casinos. That obviously doesn’t stop most of us, as there are alternatives, but the point being that it won’t be a smooth ride as it used to be before.

By Seth Miller