Utah Sports Betting

Looking for information on gambling in the Beehive State? At Compare.bet, we’ve got you covered. Although the 2018 overturning of PASPA has led to a large number of states legalizing sports betting, pretty much all gambling remains illegal in Utah. Read on below and we’ll get into all the details!

Legality of Gambling in Utah

Utah is just one of two states — the other being Hawaii — that outlaw all forms of gambling. According to the Utah Criminal Code (Chapter 10, Part 11), gambling is a class B misdemeanor. According to the law, gambling is defined as risking anything of value on the outcome of a contest, game, gaming scheme, or gaming device, where the outcome is based on an element of chance.

That means you won’t be able to partake in any form of gambling in the State of Utah, including sports betting, slots, table games, lotteries, bingo, or anything else you can think of, online or offline. There is one exception: daily fantasy sports. DFS can be considered a game of skill, and since there’s been no official ruling on the activity, operators like FanDuel and DraftKings currently offer it within Utah.

So, could we ever see gambling legalized in Utah? Probably not, owing to the fact a bill was enacted in 2012 that stipulated the state would opt out, should any federal law legalizing online gambling be passed. This stance is partly due to the Mormon majority population of Utah — laws around alcohol and tobacco are also somewhat restrictive. Some statistics show that Utah is the state least addicted to gambling in the entire US, so future legalization seems unlikely at this point. Others have posited that millions of dollars are being lost in potential tax revenue, which is one argument in favour of legalizing gambling in the state.