Bipartisan bill proposes legalized online sports betting in South Dakota
Senate Joint Resolution 507, which has been sponsored by representatives from both sides of the political aisle, plans to put 90% of generated revenue towards property tax relief
A bill to legalize online sports betting in South Dakota has been filed in the state legislature.
Sponsored by Republican Senators Steve Kolbeck, Jessica Bahmuller, and Casey Crabtree, as well as Democrat Eric Emery, Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 507 proposes a statewide vote of the electorate to determine whether the Mount Rushmore State will have access to legalized online sports betting in the coming years.
The bill has received bipartisan support and, if approved, will be voted on at the state’s next general election, scheduled for November 3, 2026.
SJR 507 proposes an amendment be made to the State Constitution of South Dakota to permit players within or outside the city limits of Deadwood to wager on sports betting via a mobile or electronic platform on the condition that the respective operator is partnered with a licensed land-based casino.
The bill states how any online operators looking to expand into South Dakota would be obligated to locate its servers within the city limits of Deadwood, and stipulates that as much as 90% of all revenue generated through the regulated market would have to go towards property tax relief or to reduce property taxes in the state.
Currently, South Dakota’s gambling laws are restricted to land-based wagering, with the city of Deadwood serving as host to several brick-and-mortar casino and sports betting locations, operated by nine different tribes, for those aged 21 and over.
Any form of mobile or online sports wagering in South Dakota, at the time of writing, must be conducted on the premises of casinos located within the city of Deadwood.
Section 15 of the State Constitution of South Dakota currently specifies that “no person may establish a location or site in this state from which to conduct a gambling business on or over the internet or an interactive computer service.”
In turn, igaming also remains illegal in the state and there has been little update to suggest there will be any developments on that front in the current legislative session.
It is a similar story for neighboring North Dakota, where online wagering is banned, while five tribes oversee brick-and-mortar casino locations, with no amount of revenue generated shared with the state.