Alaska State Rep Introduces Online Sports Betting Bill

Posted on: March 26, 2025, 02:30h. 

Last updated on: March 26, 2025, 09:53h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.
  • Alaska is one of the smallest states in the country
  • Unclear if there’s momentum for the legislation

Nearly three months into 2025, there hasn’t been much of note happening on the iGaming and online sports betting legislative fronts, but Alaska is among the states that could change that.

Alaska
A sports betting bill has been filed by an Alaska Republican. (Image: YouTube)

Rep. Davis Nelson (R-18) filed HB 145, which if approved, would legalize internet sports wagering in the largest state by area. The bill proposes allowing as many as 10 sportsbook operators to offer their services in the state.

“An Act authorizing mobile sports wagering; relating to the regulation of mobile sports wagering; imposing a tax on mobile sports wagering revenue; relating to criminal history record checks for licensure to operate mobile sports wagering; and providing for an effective date,” according to the text of the legislation.

Nelson’s bill proposes charging a fee of $100K to each licensee and sets the minimum betting age at 21. It allows for wagering on college sports and the Olympics while featuring no regulations specific to daily fantasy sports.

Alaska is Big, but its Gaming Footprint is Small

Alaska doesn’t have much wagering to speak of as the state is home to no casinos and doesn’t permit iGaming or sports betting.

Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), sovereign tribes in the state can operate bingo halls, and there are several of those venues. The Native Village of Eklutna (NVE) recently opened such an establishment with hopes of building a grander, more traditional casino.

The extent to which sports betting could take off in Alaska, and operators’ appetite to do business there, remains to be seen. It’s the third-smallest state by population and it has no professional sports teams, nor is it home to a university that plays football at the FBS level.

On the other hand, small populations and no pro teams in Vermont and Wyoming — the two smallest states by population — didn’t prevent those jurisdictions from embracing online sports wagering, nor it did stop operators from acquiring licenses in those jurisdictions.

For Operators, Small Twist of Fate

Should Alaska legalize internet sports betting, that would mean the three smallest states, and eight of the smallest 10 by population, would permit that form of betting.

North and South Dakota, the other two of the smallest 10, allow sports wagering at land-based gaming establishments.

In what could be seen as a cruel twist of fate for operators if Alaska joins the party, the population kings of California and Texas still don’t have sports betting, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Further salting that wound is the point that Florida, the third-largest state, has mobile sports betting, but it’s a monopoly controlled by Hard Rock International.