North Dakota mulls potential 2025 regulated sports betting launch
Legislators file resolution which would put emphasis on North Dakota Assembly with subsequent state-wide vote
Representatives in the North Dakota legislature have introduced proposals to force the state’s Assembly to legalize sports betting in the state.
House resolution 3002, introduced as part of the 2023 legislative session, is authored by a combination of seven house members and five senators, most of whom are from the ruling Republican Party.
In a statement of intent, the group summarized their objectives: “This measure requires the legislative assembly to authorize sports betting to be conducted in the state and licensed and regulated by the state.”
This concurrent resolution must first pass a majority vote in both the House and the Senate, with the resolution then being passed to a statewide referendum, ostensibly to be held during the general election in 2024.
However, the earliest a regulated sports betting market in the state could launch is 2025 due to the presence of legislation within the resolution, which would also have to be authorized by both House and Senate.
In addition to sports betting, other legalized activities would include the joining of North Dakota to an existing multi-state lottery, with the aim of improving the state’s finances, as well as the authorization of non-profit and charitable lotteries where the beneficiaries may be state residents.
North Dakota currently has regulated sports betting via the state’s tribal casino operators, with enabling legislation passing through the assembly in May 2018 and a federally recognized compact, which was registered on March 2, 2021.
The regulated market in the state launched on June 23, 2021.
North Dakota is the 19th largest US state, but with a population of less than 780,000 (as of 2021), it is the fourth least populous and fourth most sparsely populated in the country.
Similar to its northern neighbor, South Dakota operates a land-based sports betting market only, through arrangements with commercial and tribal casino operators, having launched its own market in September 2021. The state has no online sportsbooks.