Oregon sports betting has a longer history than most states. As one of the few exceptions to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, it has enjoyed sports betting for a while, save for a sad decade of illegality in the middle. Now, with the overturning of PASPA, Oregon sports betting fans can get back to what they do best. Read on to find out how.
Oregon residents fans will be happy to know that sports betting is legal in the Beaver State. Since the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 in 2018, Oregon quickly fought for sports betting to be legalized across the state. Still, the battle didn’t last long, and in 2019, the Oregon sports betting market was opened in August.
Until 2022, there was an asterisk to the state of Oregon sports betting in that it was pretty limited. You can bet anywhere in the state, but at that point, it was through limited means. There were only the Scoreboard sports betting app for three years, which was launched in October 2019 and allowed statewide sports betting via your mobile phone. It is controlled and regulated by the Oregon Lottery so that everything is tightly regulated. This state of affairs doesn’t allow for Oregon sports betting on college sports, for example.
However, there is also the launch of a tribal sportsbook at Chinook Winds in September 2019. We go into detail about tribal Oregon sports betting further down. And this year, DraftKings sportsbook was the first to announce that they were opening in the Oregon sports betting market, with plenty more following.
We’d have said there wasn’t much choice for whichever sport you want to bet on until January this year. You could only do online sports betting on the Scoreboard app or the Chinook Winds app.
However, this does make Oregon sports betting a lot safer. You don’t need to worry that a site isn’t licensed by the proper people when the Oregon Lottery Commission controls and regulates the only sports betting app.
But since January 2022, DraftKings has opened the door to many sportsbooks entering the Oregon sports gambling market, taking over the place of the Scoreboard app as the state’s official sports betting app. Today, the Oregon sports betting apps list includes Caesars, PointsBet, FanDuel, BetRivers, BetMGM, FoxBet, Betway, Bet365, and Sugar House.
You can still play safely at an online sportsbook, as long as you see that the sports betting app you choose is regulated by the Oregon Lottery or another national authority. This will protect you should you unfairly lose your money and allow you to be sure you are not playing a scam. Of course, you must check the odds to ensure you get the best deal and not have your money unfairly taken from you.
Ironically enough, the Oregon Lottery already could authorize Oregon online sports betting even before the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned. Oregon sports betting has been legal since 1989. This is due to an exemption for Sports Action, an original sports betting product from 1989 that received no pushback from the exemption to the demise of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. It was one of only four states exempt from the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. Still, the HB 3466 bill passed by the Oregon State Legislature was signed in 2007, leading to the closure of Sports Action. As a result, Oregon sports betting was halted for 11 years until the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection overturned Act.
Once the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned in the United States, the tribal Chinook Winds Casino Resort wasted no time opening its sports wagering lounge, marking the first time sports betting was available since 2007. A month later, the Oregon Lottery launched its exclusive sportsbook, Scoreboard.
However, at the turn of 2022, DraftKings announced that it was officially taking over Oregon sports betting operations, closing down Scoreboard and replacing it with its own platform, which the Oregon Lottery will still control and regulate. As part of the deal, the payments platform Paysafe expands into Oregon to ensure safer payment transactions.
And there is even movement on the prospect of college sports betting. In February 2022, Senate Bill 1503 was introduced to allow Oregon sports betting fans to wager on college sports online.
And even as late as June 2022, the Caesars Racebook goes live in the state, having only been available in Ohio, Florida, Indiana, and Montana previously.
Oregon, the home of Portland, has a healthy love of sports statewide. As a result, Oregon sports betting fans have plenty to choose from when it comes to professional teams, like the National Basketball Association’s Portland Trail Blazers, who have won three NBA finals, and the Portland Timbers, who have won a Major League Soccer championship.
However, an Oregon sports betting fan will need more to set their sites on, especially in a state that’s so diverse, so for more professional teams, they have to look to their state neighbors.
Washington has many professional teams to choose from, mostly around Seattle. For example, there is the Seattle Kraken for the National Hockey League, the Seattle Mariners for Major League Baseball, the Seattle Seahawks for the National Football League, the Seattle Sounders in Major League Soccer, and the women’s teams, the OL Reign for professional soccer and Seattle Storm for professional basketball.
California, meanwhile, is known for its world-renowned sports teams. For example, even the most ignorant of NBA fans would know the Lakers. It’s to the point that there are a few Californian teams per league. The National Hockey League, for example, has the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings, and the San Jose Sharks. Major League Baseball has the Los Angeles Angels, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and the San Francisco Giants. The NFL has the Los Angeles Chargers, the Los Angeles Rams, and the San Francisco 49ers. The NBA has the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Golden State Warriors, and the Sacramento Kings. And finally, Major League Soccer has the LA Galaxy team, Los Angeles FC, and the San Jose Earthquakes.
And you can bet the gambling capital of the country, Nevada, has a few professional sports teams to give you something to bet on while you’re in Las Vegas. The NFL has the Las Vegas Raiders with three titles, the NHL has the Vegas Golden Knights, and the WNBA has the Las Vegas Aces.
So, particularly with the addition of the Californian teams enjoyed nationwide and internationally, there is a lot for Oregon sports betting fans to love.
There are a lot of places for Oregon sports betting fans to indulge. Indeed, anywhere is fair game as long as they have an app. However, the casinos in Oregon are all tribal-owned and are detailed further down in this guide. That is also the case for Idaho venues. Washington has legalized sports betting, but only in tribal casinos, so that will similarly be covered below. Unfortunately, California is not one of the many states to legalize sports betting yet, so if you want to see the many cruise ship casinos of the Golden State, you’ll have to do it purely to enjoy the casino gambling options.
If you’re looking for somewhere to indulge in some Oregon sports betting, you can’t go wrong with Nevada. It’s no secret that the City of Sin has legalized as many forms of gambling as possible, including sports betting, for decades. Las Vegas sports betting has been legal since 1949, for example, and has served as a few exemptions from the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, arguably creating its reputation as the place to be for a good time.
With over 300 casinos that people come from around the world to see, a night amongst the Vegas lights is never a bad idea. It upgrades a night of gambling into a weekend away. The biggest casinos in Vegas are The Venetian, the Wynn Las Vegas, and the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. On top of its 1,000 slot machines, 225 table games, 37 poker tables, and its own sportsbook, the Venetian brings the spectacle in a small replica of Italy’s Venice, complete with canal and rowboat and “ancient” art. It has six restaurants, four bars, a Venetian theatre, a Madam Tussauds venue, golf, and even gondola rides through the canal.
A night of sports betting in Las Vegas also means clubbing, comedy shows, world class music entertainment, fine dining, and an experience you’ll never forget.
Oregon is an important state to natives, so every one of Oregon’s casinos is a tribal casino. There are nine in total, the biggest of which is the Wildhorse Resort and Casino, operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, and the Three Rivers Casino, owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon, and Resort and the Spirit Mountain Casino, run by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
The Wildhorse Resort and Casino has over 1,200 slot machines, 17 table games, 4 poker tables, an RV park to make a weekend of it, three restaurants, the Wildhorse Sports Bar and Lounge, and live concerts and entertainment. Meanwhile, the Spirit Mountain Oregon Casino has over 2,000 slot machines, 49 table games, and 15 poker tables on top of its three restaurants, two bars, and live entertainment. The Three Rivers Casino and Resort has over 900 slot machines and 12 table games in a venue with four dining experiences, scenic hikes and lookouts, beaches, a lighthouse, and a sports bar for all your Oregon sports betting needs.
If you’re looking to get away for the weekend, Oregon is the optimal place to be for tribal casino experiences. There are eight tribal casinos in Idaho and 66 tribal casinos in California; however, it is not yet legal to do any Oregon sports betting in these states.
Of course, sports betting is perfectly legal in Nevada, where there are five tribal casinos, and in Washington, where there are 33, including the Tulalip Resort Casino, run by the Tulalip Tribes, and the Swinomish Casino and Lodge, operated by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and the Muckleshoot Casino, owned by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. They offer blackjack, poker, slots, sports betting, and amenities like swimming pools, live concerts, arcades, and bars.
Daily fantasy sports have always occupied a grey area legally. There has always been some debate across the country about whether they should be outlawed or not. Despite being deemed a game of skill rather than chance, it’s usually collected under the umbrella term of sports betting. However, it was initially left up to each individual state to decide.
Since the abolition of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, the right for states to decide for themselves has extended across all elements of sports betting. Therefore, with Oregon sports betting legalized, so is Oregon daily fantasy sports betting.
Daily fantasy sports betting has always been popular in Oregon, a state that appreciates sports. Even without the sports betting element, platforms like FanDuel and DraftKings have gained momentum as places to indulge in fantasy sports betting. With teams like the Portland Trail Blazers and the Portland Timbers to bet on, no one could blame them.
And it’s likely to get easier with the launch of DraftKings taking over as the official Oregon sports betting app in the state. Not only does it offer sports betting on a wide range of sports, from golf to NFL, but also fantasy sports betting. And there are even college football and college basketball fantasy sports betting available as an alternative to illegal college sports betting.
Offshore sports betting is never really recommended. It’s recommended even less now that Oregon sports betting is legalized. There isn’t much need to do any sports betting with offshore sports betting sites when you have perfectly safe Oregon sports betting apps popping up all over the state.
If you insist on using offshore sports betting sites, you should ensure that you and your money are safe by checking the regulator. It’s best to go for a gaming authority recognized as safe by the US government, which means a licensing authority from Cuba or Curacao.
Using a sports betting site that isn’t regulated by the US government or authority the US government recognizes is likely to end in you unfairly losing your money and without any protection or authority to back you up if that becomes the case.
Horse racing is one of the few exceptions to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which means while bookies and sportsbooks were shutting down, horse racing tracks were opening up. Some of them incorporate a casino element into the venue, resulting in what gets commonly called racinos. Still, others are purely race tracks for betting on the horses.
However, in Oregon, as long as you have the relevant app, you can bet anywhere in the state, which means even horse racing tracks are open for the Oregon sports betting business.
There are no racinos in Oregon, nor any of the other neighboring states to Oregon, but there are plenty of horse racing tracks, like Portland Meadows. On top of its off-track betting facilities, Portland Meadows has a poker room with 14 televisions and a restaurant and bar for a good day of watching the horses.
Portland Meadows is the most prominent and highest profile horse racing track, so if you want something of the same caliber in another state, you might need to look to Emerald Downs in Washington. It offers live racing and off-track betting in a venue with many dining options, including an ice cream parlor.
Instead of heading south into The Golden State for your Oregon sports betting needs, you can head to the Del Mar Racing venue, which offers nine dining options and a calendar full of events.
Oregon sports betting can be described as less of a bang, like most states in the post-PASPA environment, but more like a hot simmer. It has been back and forth on legalizing sports betting, and now that it’s official, it’s determined to do it safely. Luckily, Oregon is in an optimal spot for Oregon sports betting fans to appreciate the sports teams and the legalized sports betting in the states around them.
