Iowa Becomes 11th State to Legalize Sports Betting
Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports. Pictured: Iowa state capitol
- Iowa became the 11th state to legalize sports betting when the governor signed its bill into law on Monday.
- The legislation will allow for sports betting operations at the state's casinos as well as mobile betting.
When Iowa's state legislature passed a sports betting bill last month, Governor Kim Reynolds was mysteriously mum on how she felt about it.
That changed Monday when Reynolds signed the bill into law. The legislation provides for sports betting to operate at the state's casinos and allows for mobile betting.
It's now up to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to set up the rules and regulations with the goal of having betting up and running by football season.
One of the law's restrictions is that operators will not be able to take prop bets on college games until May 2020 so that athletic departments can educate their players about what's happening.
The bill also legalizes fantasy sports for the first time.
Eight states currently have some sort of legal sports gambling operation while two others have recently made sports betting legal: Montana and Indiana.
Iowa’s legalization comes one day before the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which allows states to make their own decisions as to how they want to proceed with sports gambling.
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