Following suit with some states, Washington D.C. is going to have legal sports betting available to residents and visitors. Legislators in the D.C. Council voted 11 to 2 to go through with the decision, allowing people to put money on games and win. The legislation will allow people to place bets at one of the many sporting arenas in the capital, at designated licensed facilities, or through a smartphone app.
The city will receive a 10% tax on all official gambling operators, a revenue source many believe will greatly benefit the District. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law that banned gambling in most states. The federal law also affected Washington, D.C. which joins Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and others that have decided to utilize gambling as a source of tax revenue. In other states, bills have been filed to join in and legalize controlled gambling to benefit state programs and generate cashflow.
Missouri is currently working on a bill that would make betting in licensed facilities legal, and one senator believes it could bring in as much as $40 million dollars to the states coffers. Since the ban on sports betting was lifted, many states have seen major benefits from the money generated.
