South Dakota's online sports betting bill moves to full Senate

The South Dakota's Senate Commerce and Energy committee advanced Senate Joint Resolution 502 6-5 Tuesday morning, which would place a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 2022 ballot election allowing South Dakota residents to bet on sporting events online.

The point of this new resolution is to decentralize sports betting and make it available in online and mobile channels, all across the state.

In 2020, state voters approved Amendment B, which legalized sports betting in Deadwood. However, individuals nowadays must be physically at a Deadwood casino to gamble on a sporting event. 

SJR 502 now moves to the full state Senate for consideration. Provided the legislature approves it, and the ensuing ballot measure was approved by voters in November, residents would then be able to bet on sporting events through an app or electronic platform anywhere in the state. 

The amendment would also require that the online platform hosting bets must have its servers located in the city limits of Deadwood. Deadwood’s casinos saw record gains in 2021 with year-end gaming handle increasing by nearly 35% over 2020, surpassing more than $1.5 billion in bets placed throughout the year. Five properties in the area offered retail sports betting, and won just over $10,000.  

Several companies, including DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM, allow users to make sports bets on a website or mobile app, but are currently illegal in South Dakota.