There have been several world-changing distractions during the last year. Normally heavily discussed topics have been buried. One of the biggest news stories was the impressive wave of US sports betting. The states where legal sportsbooks are now live continue to grow. Despite rightfully more serious world issues subduing sports fans' enthusiasm, states have continued to debate the immense potential of sports betting revenue for their states. As many governments' financial hardship has grown, lawmakers' urgent pleas to enter the potentially lucrative sports betting market have grown increasingly louder. Let's do a short review of sports betting history in the U.S to bring us up-to-date. Then, we'll look at three states,' where legislators have taken different approaches to various aspects of sports betting in their states. We'll finish with a review of the top three U.S. sportsbooks leading the industry.

Industry Leaders

Dozens of sportsbooks have either launched a mobile app or secured a license to run a brick-and-mortar sportsbook location. Certain sportsbooks are still relatively unknown. Others are beginning to make a push for relevance.

DraftKings Sportsbook

One of the sportsbooks ready to go live with the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling was DraftKings. They started with a tremendously successful launch in New Jersey. DraftKings operates both retail and online sportsbooks in six states. DraftKings Illinois sportsbook is through a partnership with The Casino Queen. The DraftKings Tennessee sportsbook is one of the online-only options in the Volunteer State. DraftKings Michigan sportsbook hopes currently hinge on the state allowing online sports betting in the coming months.

In each of the states where DraftKings has launched its sportsbook, new accounts can generate a nice welcome bonus by using the DraftKings Sportsbook promo code. With the DraftKings promo code, new accounts can receive up to $1,000 in the form of a deposit bonus. Lineups.com users receive an exclusive $50 Free bet on the first deposit. There is no higher offer on the market today.

The company launched a Casino offering and provided a DraftKings Casino promo code in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and now Michigan. The company still leads in the daily fantasy sports space in revenue and user base. DraftKings launched its initial promo code offering in New Jersey and has carried the same offer to all other states. The DraftKings promo code offering resulted in a record number of sign-ups in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado and Indiana. DraftKings Sportsbook bonus details are straightforward. You need to be 18 years old, be a new user, and make an initial deposit. The bonus will immediately display in your account.

FanDuel Sportsbook

Like its daily fantasy sports rival DraftKings, FanDuel was ready at the starting line when sports betting began to push across the country. FanDuel started gradually but made a huge mark on the New Jersey sports betting market. FanDuel outmatched DraftKings offer with a FanDuel Sportsbook promo code of their own. During the first year, FanDuel had nearly doubled the competition in total handle in New Jersey. The FanDuel Michigan operations received a huge boost with the partnership that helped FanDuel open the physical location at the Motor City Casino in Detroit.

The FanDuel Tennessee Sportsbook launch gave FanDuel eight licensed states. The FanDuel promo code is uniform across each state where the app is available. New accounts will receive up to a $1,000 risk-free first bet after a minimum $10 deposit. A quick look at the FanDuel promo code fact table explains how the risk-free bonus works. Using $100 as the first bet benchmark, a winning bet will be deposited into the account wallet. If the first bet does not win, the amount of the bet will be a credit. To open up the amount of the risk-free first bet, $100 in this instance, the player would need to post a minimum of $100 in total bets before the $100 risk-free bonus credit would be available. These bonuses can get confusing, and there is always fine print to read through. For this purpose, we put together a FanDuel promo code fact table that outlines the key considerations.

BetMGM Sportsbook

BetMGM has ridden the coattails of a highly successful resort casino operation. The MGM International name has helped BetMGM cement itself as a strong competitor in nearly every sports betting market. The few states where BetMGM has yet to launch its app are states that do not have a physical MGM casino. The BetMGM bonus code earns new accounts a $500 risk-free first bet. The BetMGM sportsbook app had a successful 2020 despite limitations.

BetMGM Pennsylvania is the most recent state where it has gone live. An improved version of the original PlayMGM app, the new sportsbook app consistently receives some of the highest ratings for layout and available bets. These are three of the top U.S. sportsbooks from the first two and half years of legal sports betting. There is some strong competition from other sportsbooks as well. A William Hill promo code will earn a new account registration a chance at a $500 risk-free first bet.

Other sportsbooks offer similar welcome bonuses. New registrations with the unique Pointsbet sports betting model can use the Pointsbet promo code to receive up to $1,500 in risk-free first bets. Part of the offer is a $1,000 bet to try out the Pointsbet high-risk/high-reward betting option. Another sportsbook with a different type of platform is the Monkey Knife Fight. While Monkey Knife Fight took a different course eventually to land in the sports betting market, a Monkey Knife Fight promo code is part of the new account welcome package.

Monkey Knife Fight is also pushing to absorb a chunk of the daily fantasy sports market seemingly forgotten in pursuits of sportsbook aspirations. A quick Monkey Knife Fight promo code explanation is easy. New accounts can earn a quick $50 in free bet money with an initial deposit. It's a 100 percent match up to $50. The last big name in sportsbooks heading into 2021 we'll mention is FoxBet. After partnering with the Stars Group, FoxBet immediately became a strong competitor.

As the sports world and life, in general, begin to approach something akin to normal, sports betting will see the benefits. Each state that has legal sports betting legislation in place has a head start. However, as new states enter the race for sports betting revenue, expect each of the sportsbooks we've discussed to be competing for their market share. The year 2021 will hopefully look a lot different from the one we put in the rearview mirror.

U.S. Sports Betting History

On May 14, 2018, a new era in sports betting began. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) violated the 10th Amendment. In a 6 to 3 vote, the court insisted the federal government did not have the right to enforce gambling laws against states, businesses, or individuals. It would be a matter of days before sportsbook operators would pounce on the opportunity. One month after the PASPA was overturned, New Jersey's Governor Phil Murphy walked into the Monmouth Park Racetrack. It was the first legal bet outside of the state of Nevada.

While Murphy's first wager in New Jersey was essentially ceremonial, it triggered a wave that has swept across the United States. Like other states, New Jersey had many of the pieces already in place to open up sportsbooks in the Garden State. Within weeks, lawmakers in several states began to propose legislation to allow sports betting in their states. Lawmakers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York were quick to bring legislation to legalize sports betting to the floor.

While New Jersey's already impressive casino industry garnered the biggest attention when sports betting launched, Delaware actually beat them to the ticket window. Delaware launched retail sportsbook outlets 22 days after the PASPA was overturned. Mississippi legalized a handful of brick-and-mortar sportsbook locations later that summer, with West Virginia, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania sports betting legislation approved during the fall of 2018. After a break in legal sports betting announcements, six more states would begin to pass legislation allowing sportsbook operations beginning in the summer of 2019. There would be no lull in the progression to begin in 2020.

Six more states would open their sports betting market by the middle of the year. That brought the total to 20 states with legal sports betting options as the calendars flipped from 2020 to 2021. There are three states primed to launch early in 2021 as well. Michigan is set to go live in January 2021, just in time for Super Bowl LV. Virginia's sports betting legislation has passed and been approved by the governor. There is some hope sports betting will open before the Super Bowl kickoff.

However, a launch at some point in February appears almost guaranteed. All the legal steps are complete in Louisiana, North Carolina, South Dakota, Maryland, and Washington to begin legal sports betting during the 2021 calendar year. A dozen more states have legislation introduced on the floor to allow sports betting. It wouldn't be surprising to have upwards of 40 states either allowing sports betting or standing at the threshold. Let's review a few projections for sports betting in 2021, including a look at three of the newest states ready to go live.

Early Projections for 2021

The easiest projection is the imminent launch of sports betting in four new states. North Carolina, Maryland, Louisiana, and Virginia have all passed the final legal hurdles. Both Maryland and Louisiana are still debating the sports betting logistics for their states. Both are expected to permit physical sportsbooks to open at existing casino locations. Online sports betting has yet to receive final approval. As in a few other states, existing tribal casino laws present a roadblock to online sportsbook aspirations.

South Dakota and Washington are two examples. Both have approved limited sports betting operations at existing tribal casino facilities. Neither state seems to have a sense of urgency for launching online sportsbooks without a lot of pushback from the tribal casinos. Tennessee is one of the few states that took a backward approach. Late in 2020, Tennessee launched unique online-only sports betting legal package. Currently, there are no physical locations permitted to open sportsbooks in the Volunteer State.

Illinois sportsbooks took a more conventional path to legalize both online and physical sportsbooks. While it took a full year to go live after legislation was passed, sports betting has been tremendously successful in the Land of Lincoln. New York sports betting is the largest market in which physical sportsbooks are approved, but online betting statewide is still on hold. Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. has consistently pushed for Governor Cuomo to approve online betting.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer initially resisted the call for online sports betting, but the timeline to approve online sportsbook regulations is now pending in the Wolverine State. Most expect Cuomo eventually to concede, considering the massive market potential of online betting in New York.

California is the largest market in the US and we can only hope California sports betting legislation is once again introduced in 2021. People have been betting online in California illegally for years, but that takes tax dollars out of the state and increase player risk. It's not what we want as an industry moving forward.

Michigan Sports Betting Market

Michigan lawmakers pushed the state's sports betting legislation across the finish line in late 2019. The first bets in Michigan occurred the following March. Legislation paved the way for Michigan's tribal casinos and three commercial casino facilities to secure sportsbook licenses. While legal aspects of Michigan sports betting took longer than many envisioned. Industry leaders, such as BetMGM, FoxBet, PointsBet, FanDuel, and DraftKings are ready to accept bets as soon as online sports betting goes live. Based on pre-registration numbers, we expect FanDuel Michigan to take an early lead in overall registrations. We think there will be a surprise with BetMGM Michigan securing the #2 position early, which DraftKings Michigan rounding out the top 3. We do expect DraftKings Sportsbook to be in the top 2 in total handle. BetMGM locked in one of the fifteen online sportsbook licenses through their current licensed physical location at the MGM Grand Detroit.

Revenue

Michigan sportsbooks got but a glimpse of potential profits ahead of COVID-19. During a short five-day open window, beginning with the first bets on March 11, 2020, revenue surpassed $100,000. Conservative projects estimate Michigan sportsbook revenue could exceed $3,000,000 per month when things normalize. A key to reaching that potential lies in how lawmakers handle the push from Michigan online casinos and sportsbooks. The application process started on May 15, 2020. Sportsbooks are taxed 8.4 percent on adjusted gross gaming revenue in Michigan. The license fee is $100,000 per license and $50,000 per year to renew that license.

Partnerships

Michigan's commercial casinos have linked partnerships. Two of these will be a factor when online sports betting goes live. FanDuel is operating the physical sportsbook at the MotorCity Casino Hotel. The Sportsbook at Greektown has a unique relationship with the Greektown Casino in Detroit. BetMGM Michigan will launch their online sportsbook through their current physical license at the MGM Grand.

Outlook

In the shortened and challenged 2020 year, Michigan sportsbooks registered over $120,000,000 in total handle generating more than $16,000,000 in revenue. A full calendar of legal sports betting should dramatically increase both of these numbers. The single largest handle was in October, at $46,000,000. Conservative estimates give sports betting in Michigan the potential to exceed $500,000,000 in total handle during 2021. Any progress towards launching online sportsbooks will further improve this outlook.

Illinois Sports Betting Market

Illinois sports betting regulators opened the state to gambling in physical sportsbooks two days before Michigan. There were some immediate differences in how lawmakers laid out the method that Illinois online sportsbook operated. One aspect of sports betting in Illinois was the hurdle online-only operations had to overcome. Much of this centered on daily fantasy sports providers, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, having operated in the state against lawmakers' wishes. There were also in-person registration requirements for all Illinois-based sportsbook accounts.

Revenue

Illinois, like every state that launched sports betting just ahead of COVID-19 related restrictions, operated under challenging circumstances. Despite the challenges, the Illinois betting handle pushed close to hitting the $1 billion mark for 2020. Illinois generated over $60 million in total revenue.

Partnerships

DraftKings hopes in Illinois, along with FanDuel's, found an opening in the legal wording of the sports betting laws. Each partnered with existing casinos to leapfrog the 18-month waiting period leveled against online-only sportsbooks.

Outlook

Illinois revenue numbers continued to grow each month as 2020 came to a close. With the fifth-largest state population in the country, plus multiple sports franchises in every major U.S. sport, the outlook for sports betting in Illinois is tremendous. The Chicago area alone is cause for tremendous expectations. As the sports world continues to reopen and return to more normal schedules, there is little doubt that Illinois sportsbooks will far surpass the $1 billion mark in total handle. That will correlate to a wealth of revenue from sports betting.