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Is sports betting legal in Vermont?
Yes.
- Governor Phil Scott, who had previously expressed caution about gambling expansion, signed House Bill 127 (Act 63) on June 14, 2023, following years of legislative study and deliberate, measured debate - a genuinely slower path to legalization than most states took.
- The law authorized the Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery (DLL), an agency that combines liquor and lottery oversight under one roof, to license between two and six online sportsbook operators through a competitive bidding process.
That bidding process concluded December 12, 2023, when Vermont selected exactly three operators - DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook - based specifically on their revenue-share commitments and market expertise, rather than a flat statutory tax rate the way most other states set things.
- All three launched simultaneously on January 11, 2024, making Vermont the 38th U.S. state to authorize legal sports betting.
- Sports betting in Vermont is regulated entirely by the DLL, and you must be at least 21 years old and physically located within Vermont to place a bet.
Vermont's political relationship with gambling remains genuinely contested even after legalization.
- On February 24, 2025, three members of Vermont's House of Representatives introduced House Bill 133, a bill specifically proposing to repeal both the state lottery and the sports wagering law entirely.
- As of the supplied page's writing, the repeal effort had not succeeded and Vermont's sports betting market remained fully operational, but the bill's introduction is a real signal that Vermont's underlying political support for legal betting is narrower than in many other states covered on this site.
Vermont rules at a glance
- ✓Mobile-only marketVermont has no retail sportsbook option because it has no casinos in the state.
- ✓21+ minimum ageYou must be at least 21 to place a legal sports wager.
- ✓Three licensed appsDraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics have operated since launch.
- ✓Location requiredYou must be physically inside Vermont when placing a wager.
| Date | Milestone | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| June 14, 2023 | H.127 signed | Vermont authorized a mobile sports betting framework with two to six possible operators. |
| December 12, 2023 | Three operators selected | DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics won the competitive bid process. |
| January 11, 2024 | Statewide launch | All three licensed apps launched simultaneously. |
| February 24, 2025 | H.133 introduced | The supplied page describes a bill proposing repeal of the lottery and sports wagering laws. |
The three licensed Vermont sportsbooks
Vermont's law permits up to six operators, but the state has never issued a license beyond its original three: DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook, all selected through the December 2023 competitive bid and all live since the January 2024 launch. No additional operator has entered the Vermont market since, despite the statutory room to add up to three more.
| Sportsbook | Our score | Revenue share / status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DraftKings | 9.6/10 | 31% revenue share | Full review |
| FanDuel | 9.5/10 | Vermont day-one operator | Full review |
| Fanatics Sportsbook | 8.4/10 | Vermont day-one operator | Full review |
See the full rankings and our six-category scoring methodology on the sportsbook reviews page. With only three books to choose from, it's worth reading our guide to claiming a sportsbook bonus before committing, since Vermont's small market doesn't offer the breadth of competing welcome offers available in larger states.
Which sports can you bet on in Vermont?
Vermont's three sportsbooks cover all the major U.S. professional leagues - NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, and WNBA - alongside international soccer, tennis, golf, MMA, boxing, and motorsports. Vermont has no major professional sports franchise of its own, so bettors here tend to follow the nearby Boston market closely, similar to the pattern described in our New Hampshire guide.
Vermont applies a specific restriction on in-state college teams: wagering on Vermont college programs is prohibited, except when those teams are competing in out-of-state tournaments. That's a similar structure to the postseason-style exceptions described in other state guides, though Vermont's framing specifically ties the exception to the tournament location.
| Category | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Major pro leagues | Available | NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, WNBA and more. |
| Vermont college teams | Restricted | Not permitted except when competing in out-of-state tournaments. |
| Live betting | Available | Offered by all three licensed operators. |
| Same-game parlays | Available | Offered by all three licensed operators. |
Bet types & live betting in Vermont
All three licensed Vermont sportsbooks offer moneylines, point spreads, and totals across every major sport, same-game and cross-game parlays, team and player props, futures markets, and live in-play betting with continuously updating odds. Our guide to every type of sports bet covers the win condition for each format, and understanding odds and lines explains how to read the prices themselves.
Given the state's limited three-operator field, shopping for the best number on a given bet matters in Vermont - our line shopping guide covers how to build that comparison habit even in a smaller market. Same-game parlays and live in-play betting are available at all three Vermont operators; see our parlays explained guide and live and in-play betting guide for the mechanics behind each.
Why Vermont has no retail sportsbooks
Vermont has no retail sportsbooks, and unlike states where this reflects a deliberate regulatory choice, Vermont's situation comes down to a simpler structural fact: there are no casinos anywhere in the state at all. Vermont residents wanting to visit a physical casino have to travel to upstate New York or across the border into Canada - there's simply no in-state property that could plausibly host a retail sportsbook, which is precisely why H.127 built Vermont's entire framework around mobile-only wagering from the outset.
Because there's no retail option to fall back on, opening a Vermont sportsbook account happens entirely online, with no in-person visit required at any point in the process - a structure similar to Tennessee's online-only market (our Tennessee guide), even though the two states arrived at the same outcome through different circumstances.
What Vermont does offer
- Statewide mobile sportsbook access.
- Three licensed operators selected by competitive bid.
- Remote registration and geolocation.
What Vermont does not offer
- No retail sportsbooks.
- No in-state casinos.
- No regulated online casino product.
Why Vermont still has no online casino
Vermont has no regulated online casino product, and the 2023 sports betting law didn't include any provision for one. There's no active legislative push toward legalizing online casino gaming in the supplied page, and given the political resistance reflected in the 2025 repeal bill targeting sports betting itself, an online casino expansion looks considerably more distant for Vermont than for states where the debate is simply about adding another product category.
Vermont residents interested in online casino-style gaming are currently limited to legal sweepstakes casino platforms and a long-standing daily fantasy sports market, neither of which offers the regulated real-money experience available in states like New Jersey or Michigan. Prediction market platforms also face what the supplied page describes as a hostile regulatory environment in Vermont, consistent with the state's cautious posture toward gambling expansion generally.
If online casino gaming matters to you specifically, Vermont is unlikely to offer it anytime soon - New Jersey or Michigan (see our New Jersey guide and Michigan guide) remain the realistic regulated options nationally.
How Vermont compares to other states
Vermont's 31%-33% tax rate on operator revenue is among the highest in the country according to the supplied page. That high rate reflects the outcome of Vermont's competitive bid process specifically - rather than a legislature setting a fixed statutory percentage, Vermont let operators compete for a limited number of licenses by offering the state the best possible revenue share, similar in spirit to New Hampshire's approach (our New Hampshire guide).
Vermont's tiny scale - roughly $21.8 million in March 2026 handle alone, reflecting the supplied page's population figure of around 647,000 - makes it one of the smallest markets covered on this site. Combined with the unresolved political tension reflected in the 2025 repeal bill, Vermont's sports betting market carries a level of underlying uncertainty that's uncommon among states that have already cleared the initial legalization hurdle.
Vermont's mobile-only structure also offers a useful contrast with Tennessee's (our Tennessee guide) - both states have no retail sportsbooks, but for different reasons. Tennessee deliberately chose an online-only model, while Vermont simply has no casino industry anywhere in the state to anchor retail licensing.
| Market | Operator / tax model | Structural note |
|---|---|---|
| Vermont | 31%-33% revenue share | Three operators selected through competitive bid; mobile-only. |
| New Hampshire | 51% revenue share | The supplied page cites it as a comparable competitive-bid model. |
| Tennessee | Online-only | No retail sportsbooks, but for a different underlying reason. |
| New Jersey | 19.75% cited in source | Used by the source as a lower-tax comparison. |
How to sign up
Creating a Vermont sportsbook account takes about five minutes and can be completed entirely online through any of the three licensed apps.
- You'll need your full legal name, date of birth, current address, email, phone number, and the last four digits of your Social Security number for identity verification, a standard requirement described by the supplied page.
- The app will request location access at sign-up and periodically afterward, since Vermont sportsbooks use GPS-based geolocation to confirm you're physically within state lines for every bet.
Common funding methods include debit card, PayPal, and ACH bank transfer - Vermont specifically prohibits credit card deposits. Before your first deposit, our bankroll management guide is worth reading to think through stake sizing deliberately, particularly given how much less room there is in Vermont to switch operators if one app's terms don't suit you.
From account to first wager
- 1Pick a licensed appChoose DraftKings, FanDuel, or Fanatics.
- 2Create and verify your accountUse accurate personal details for identity checks.
- 3Enable location servicesYou must be physically inside Vermont when betting.
- 4Fund with an allowed methodDebit card, PayPal, and ACH are listed; credit cards are prohibited.
- 5Set a bankroll limitDecide your risk boundary before placing your first wager.
Taxes on winnings
Sports betting winnings are taxable income at both the federal and Vermont state level.
- Operators are generally required to issue a Form W-2G when a single payout is $600 or more and at least 300 times the amount wagered, a threshold that applies more often to long-odds parlays and futures than to standard short-odds bets.
- All gambling winnings are technically reportable income whether or not a W-2G is issued, and this page is not tax advice, so consult a tax professional about your own specific filing situation.
On the operator side - not something bettors pay directly, but a figure that shapes the market you're betting in - Vermont's three licensed operators pay a variable revenue share in the 31%-33% range, set through the original competitive bid process rather than a single flat statutory rate. See our sportsbook promotions economics article for more on how a high tax rate tends to shape the promotional environment bettors see.
| Item | Figure or rule | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Operator revenue share | 31%-33% | Variable rate established through the competitive bid process. |
| W-2G detail | $600+ and 300x wager | The source describes this as a common federal reporting threshold. |
| Vermont bettor income | Taxable | Sports betting winnings are described as taxable at federal and Vermont levels. |
| Credit card deposits | Prohibited | The supplied page says Vermont does not permit sportsbook funding by credit card. |
Responsible gambling resources
The Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery oversees responsible gambling requirements across all three licensed sportsbooks.
- Every licensed operator is required to offer deposit limits, session time alerts, and cooling-off periods, and Vermont maintains a self-exclusion program administered through the DLL.
- Given the political uncertainty reflected in the 2025 repeal bill, Vermont's regulatory posture toward gambling generally remains more cautious than in many other states.
1-802-566-1531 is the Vermont Council on Problem Gambling's helpline, free and confidential for anyone in the state concerned about their own gambling or someone else's. See our responsible gambling guide for a practical walkthrough of limit tools available inside most sportsbook apps.
FAQ
A few additional questions come up often from bettors navigating Vermont's small, high-tax, mobile-only market, beyond the launch history and tax structure already covered above.
When did sports betting become legal in Vermont?
Governor Phil Scott signed H.127 on June 14, 2023. DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook launched simultaneously on January 11, 2024, following a December 2023 competitive bid process.
Why does Vermont only have three sportsbooks?
Vermont's law permits up to six operators, but only DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics were selected through the original December 2023 competitive bid, and no additional licenses have been issued since.
Is there really a bill to repeal sports betting in Vermont?
Yes. House Bill 133, introduced by three House members on February 24, 2025, proposes repealing both the state lottery and sports wagering laws entirely. It had not passed as of the supplied page's writing.
Does Vermont have retail sportsbooks?
No. Vermont has no casinos anywhere in the state, so its entire sports betting market has been mobile-only from launch, with no in-person betting option available.
What is the minimum age to bet on sports in Vermont?
21. This applies to online sports betting throughout the state, since no retail option exists.