With the Supreme Court’s decision to allow states to legalize sports betting, 56% of Americans now live in a state where regulated sportsbooks have launched. A number of new states have joined this club, and even more are preparing to do so. Some have already opened, including Colorado (where the launch of online and mobile sportsbooks took place on Sept. 1), Kansas (where Gov. Laura Kelly approved the launch of a handful of sites, tethered to a handful of casinos), and Connecticut (which launched its regulated sportsbooks in October 2021 with DraftKings, FanDuel, BetRivers, and BetMGM).

Any player or employee affiliated with a team can make a wager on any sporting event as long as the sport is legal where they’re located and they’re not inside a team’s facilities or on the road. However, bets on the NBA, its summer leagues, or the WNBA, G-League, and Basketball Africa League are not allowed.

It’s important to remember that sports gambling is illegal in some states, and it can also lead to gambling addiction, which can have serious consequences for players and teams. The National Council on Problem Gambling offers help for those who may need it. For more information, visit their website here. In 1919, professional gambler Joseph Sullivan paid eight members of the Chicago White Sox to fix a World Series. The scandal would go down as one of the biggest in baseball history, and all eight players were banned for life from the game.