Official betting is the term for wagering on sports events that have been sanctioned by a recognized sport’s governing body. This type of wagering is subject to rules and regulations designed to ensure fair play and protect participants from fraud. It is also subject to laws regarding advertising and promotion. The most common official bets include straight bets, parlays and totalizators. Straight bets are placed on individual team or player outcomes while parlays and totalizators combine multiple bet types into a single wager.

The legalization of sports betting has moved swiftly since the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2021. New York was one of the first states to offer sports betting, with retail options launching in 2019 and online options going live in January 2022. Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and BetRivers are among the New York sportsbook brands available.

Kentucky passed legislation to legalize sports betting in 2022 and began offering online and retail sportsbooks on March 11, 2024. Gov. Steve Beshear signed the bill into law and as many as eight sportsbooks went live on launch day.

Ohio voters approved legal sports betting in November 2021 and the state’s legislative process cleared a final hurdle in December of that year. Retail and online sportsbooks launched in January 2023, with Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetRivers all offering sportsbook apps.

Professional baseball players, umpires and club or league officials are banned from placing bets on games in which they have a duty to perform (28 U.S.C. 3702). This rule dates back to the 1919 World Series scandal, when Joseph Sullivan paid members of the Chicago White Sox (Oscar Felsch, Arnold Gandil, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, Charles Risberg and George Weaver) around 10,000 dollars each to fix the game. All eight players were permanently banned from baseball in the aftermath.