South Dakota Online Sports Betting

South Dakota offers gamblers legal DFS competitions, land-based casinos that include live poker in their options, a popular state lottery, horse racing (online, track-side and off-track) and charitable gambling.

South Dakota applies an age limit of 18 across the state lottery, charitable gaming, horse racing and DFS. Those wishing to gamble in South Dakota’s casinos need to be at least 21-years-of-age.

Happenings at the Federal level of government are the biggest precursors surrounding the development of sports betting in the Mount Rushmore State.

South Dakota’s State Legislators have been granted the opportunity to consider the possibility of introducing legal sports betting after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to pass sports betting laws back to the states in May 2018, following the successful court challenge by the state of New Jersey to the Federal nationwide sports betting ban.

Currently, South Dakota does not have legal sports betting, however, the State Government is beginning to lay the ground work by which it will be possible.

In January 2018, the South Dakota Department of Revenue made public a white paper explaining the process that the State should adopt once the Supreme Court ruled in favor of New Jersey and overturned the federal law prohibiting sports betting.

The White Paper recommended a state-wide referendum on sports betting, granting regulatory power on sports betting to the state’s Commission on Gaming, limiting sports betting to licensed casinos, and that the State Legislature should determine a tax rate on sports betting. Similar to other states, the white paper recommends that sports betting in South Dakota should be a ‘pool betting’ format, (as horse racing payouts are determined).

The introduction of legal sports betting bills and their debate began in South Dakota in the January 2019 legislative session.

The outcome of that process led to the State Legislature passing Bill SJR 501, a sports betting referendum bill which will ask the state’s voters to decide if they want to authorize and amendment to the state constitution to allow for bricks-and-mortar sports wagering in the town of Deadwood. Notably, at this stage, there is no allowance for online sports betting.

Under Federal Law, any potential sports wagering authorized for Deadwood would also be need to be permitted at on-reservation tribal casinos upon amendments to current tribal gaming compacts.

With a positive vote outcome from its citizens, South Dakota lawmakers are likely to move quickly on sports betting once the 2021 legislative session begins on March 8 2021.

As a result, legal sports betting could arrive earliest in South Dakota in the second half of 2021.

Meanwhile, South Dakota’s residents and visitors can bet 100% legally on horse and greyhound racing and enjoy playing DFS real money competitions until legal sports betting becomes reality in the Mount Rushmore State.

The State of South Dakota does not currently offer online sports betting for either its visitors or residents.

The Federal level of U.S. Government have made online betting legal, however, each state is required to pass legislation to regulate and license operators. For the time being, South Dakota’s lawmakers have been unable to pass legislation on the topic.

In all likelihood, South Dakota won’t have online sports betting options in the short-term future. The stumbling block is a piece of legislation that specifically targets online gambling in the state. Section 22-25A-8  of the State Code specifically targets the establishment of any business that conducts gambling online as illegal;

‘Establishment of internet gambling business prohibited…no person may establish a location or site in this state from which to conduct a gambling business on or over the internet or an interactive computer service.’

Furthermore, South Dakota’s penalties for breaching the anti-online gambling laws are harsh. Section 22-25A-10 determines it to be a Class 6 felony for the first offense and a Class 5 felony for all subsequent offenses.

Consequently, before any form of online gambling can be introduced to South Carolina, the state’s lawmakers will be required to amend the stiff penalties.

Until new South Dakotan laws are introduced, we recommend the legal online gambling options in the state;

• Playing online DFS competitions for real money, and;
• Online betting on horse and greyhound racing.

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) have been ruled upon to be contests of skill at the Federal level of law-making. This determination has made DFS immune from all forms of Federal gambling regulation. Many state governments across the nation have already taken up the virtual invitation and consequently, legalized DFS and regulated and licensed the practice under their respective state laws.

South Dakota’s gaming laws do not restrict real money DFS competitions. DFS sites freely offer their real money competitions to residents and visitors to the Mount Rushmore State without issue of contravening the state regulations on gambling.

However, South Dakota’s State Government has never addressed the legality of DFS competitions, nor perhaps have they ever urgently felt the need to.

Back in 2005, South Dakota’s attorney general Marty Jackley offered a general statement regarding DFS, saying he would not seek felony indictments without more “guidance”, and since then, DFS games for real money have been offered to South Dakotans without any hinderance from state authorities and the industry is booming.

Once legal sports betting becomes reality for South Dakota’s citizens, gamblers will be accessing eSports wagers through betting markets never before imagined in methods untarnished by any murky, illegal histories.

What are eSports?

Ever since the first days of video gaming in the early 2000s, the game’s players have always been trying to beat their colleagues.

Skipping forward to present day and eSports (professional video game play at the highest level) has fostered massive betting markets on the outcomes of the all the big global tournaments.

The players battle for glory in games like Call of Duty, League of Legends and Starcraft II across a worldwide network of tournaments. Growing rapidly, the eSports industry shows little signs of slowing down and crossed the $1 billion threshold in early 2019.

As sports betting arrives in South Dakota, a legal eSports wager could be the first bet you place in a fully legalized South Dakota sportsbook.

Betting on horses and greyhounds’ dates back to the 1940’s as a regulated South Dakotan industry.

South Dakota’s Commission on Gaming oversees races, the race tracks themselves, animal welfare and the licensing of horse racing and horse racing betting.

Trackside Betting

6 tracks are used for a total of 14 race meetings in South Dakota throughout the summer months. Other tracks sometimes receive licenses to operate for specific events such as county fairs.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in South Dakota

South Dakota offers a range of OTB locations and facilities across the state for its residents and visitors.

Online Horse Racing in South Dakota

In the state of South Dakota, it is possible to place horse racing wagers online without any fear of punishment under the state law.
South Dakotans can be offered 100% legally excellent online odds on all major horse racing venues worldwide and thoroughbred racing venues in the U.S. directly from their phones, tablets, smartwatches, other mobile devices or home computers.

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