Michigan has joined a growing list of states to have officially legalized sports gambling.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer made sports wagering a reality with one swoop of the pen on Friday afternoon meaning sports fanatics have to wait no longer to place a bet in the state.
According to a Detroit News report, Whitmer signed a package of bills that legalizes sports betting and online gaming through the state’s casinos. This new deal will make the Great Lakes State the second biggest market in the Midwest behind Illinois.
Michigan sports gambling now legal
The new law makes Michigan the 20th state to legalize sports betting in some shape or form. While some of the states have legalized sports wagering in their casinos, they do not all have both options of online and casino wagering. Under the new laws, Michigan will.
Michigan, which already contributes a great deal of money towards its public school systems under their Michigan Lottery laws will see that contribution go up even more with the addition of sports wagering — and that is what made this new law a no-brainer for Whitmer to approve.
“My top priority in signing this legislation was protecting and investing in the School Aid Fund because our students deserve leaders who put their education first,” Whitmer said.
The bills, Whitmer added, “will put more dollars in Michigan classrooms and increase funding for firefighters battling cancer. This is a real bipartisan win for our state.”
What other states have sports wagering?
Now that Michigan officially has become the 20th state in the union to approve sports gambling, which other states have already taken the plunge?
ESPN keeps a running update on its dedicated page to the “United States of sports betting.”
13 states (Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Arkansas, New York, Iowa, Oregon, and Indiana) all have functioning sports wagering while eight more, including Michigan, have recently passed a bill to get the ball rolling ASAP.
The other seven states that will have sports gambling very soon are Montana, Washington DC, Tennessee, Illinois, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Colorado.