Arkansas Sports Betting: Legal Sportsbooks, Apps, Laws & Where to Bet

• ✓ Legal Both retail and online sports betting are legal, regulated by the Arkansas Racing Commission; retail since 2019, online since 2022.
• ① Three apps FanDuel, DraftKings and BetSaracen are the live online books, each tied to one of the state’s three casinos.
• ⛪ Retail In-person betting runs at Oaklawn, Southland and Saracen.
• 🏈 College In-state college betting is allowed, including the Arkansas Razorbacks.
• ✗ No iGaming Online casino games and online poker are not authorized; no betting on elections, awards or virtual sports.

Yes. Arkansas voters legalized casino gaming and sports betting in November 2018 by approving Issue 4, which became Amendment 100 to the state constitution, the Arkansas Casino Gaming Amendment of 2018. Casino gaming under the amendment is defined to include accepting wagers on sporting events. Retail sportsbooks opened in July 2019, and online sports betting launched in March 2022 after the Arkansas Racing Commission adopted rules for mobile wagering. For a full state-by-state breakdown, see our guide to states with legal sports betting.

Several things remain off limits. Online casino games and online poker are not authorized. Licensed books do not take wagers on political elections, award shows or other non-sporting outcomes, and the rules do not permit betting on virtual sports. Betting on high school and other youth amateur sports is prohibited. The only legal online betting options are sports betting, daily fantasy sports and horse racing.

Sports Betting in Arkansas at a Glance

Three licensed online sportsbooks operate in Arkansas. Each runs through one of the state’s three casinos, because the amendment requires online books to operate under a casino license. State rules allow each casino to run up to two online brands, called skins, so the market could grow to six online sportsbooks. The short reviews below focus on what each book offers Arkansas bettors and when it entered the state, with banking details for each.

List of All Legal Online Sportsbooks in Arkansas

Betly and Oaklawn Sports were among the first Arkansas online books, but both were retired on March 20, 2026, when DraftKings and FanDuel took over their casino licenses. Any guide that still lists them as active options is out of date.

Sportsbooks That Could Launch in Arkansas

Because the rules allow up to six online sportsbooks and several skins are unused, more brands could enter the market over time. Each casino must keep control of its operation, so a national partner cannot hold a majority position, which has shaped which companies pursue the state.

• Caesars Sportsbook has been tied to the proposed Pope County casino project, positioning it as a candidate if that property is built and opens.
• BetMGM has been active in the region, operates casinos in neighboring Mississippi and took part in the December 2021 Arkansas Racing Commission meeting on online betting rules.
• BetRivers has entered many regulated markets and could pursue one of the remaining licenses.

Saracen also holds a second skin that is not in use, so an additional brand could appear without a new casino being built.

Offshore sportsbooks are online betting sites based outside the United States that accept American customers, including Arkansas players. They are not legal sportsbooks in Arkansas, and they are not regulated by the Arkansas Racing Commission or any United States authority. They hold licenses in places such as Costa Rica, Panama and Curacao, which do not provide the consumer protections a state gaming regulator requires. Many bettors reach them from a phone, since they run as mobile sports betting sites rather than app-store downloads.

Enforcement almost always targets operators rather than individual recreational bettors, and prosecutions of everyday players are rare. That is not the same as being protected. Several states have ordered offshore brands to stop taking bets, and access can be cut off with little warning, which can strand a balance. The short reviews below explain what these sites are. They are not endorsements, and a licensed Arkansas app is the safer choice.

State availability at offshore books can change at any time, and none of these sites is licensed in Arkansas. Verify current access on the operator’s signup page, and understand there is no state oversight if a problem arises.

Arkansas has three operating casinos, each with a retail sportsbook. A fourth casino is licensed but not yet built. The short reviews below cover each location, followed by a full list. Our pick for the best in-person experience is Oaklawn, on the strength of its history, full-service betting windows and the atmosphere of its racing season, with Southland the most convenient option for the Memphis area.

Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, Hot Springs

Oaklawn took the first legal sports bet in Arkansas history on July 1, 2019, when general manager Wayne Smith placed a $5 wager on the Dallas Cowboys to cover against the New York Giants. The property opened as a racetrack in 1904 and is home to the Arkansas Derby, giving it the deepest betting heritage in the state. Inside, the race and sports book is a full-service room, with staffed betting counters backed by self-serve kiosks and a wall of screens for following the action. Oaklawn is now the retail home of FanDuel.

Southland Casino Hotel, West Memphis

Southland is the retail home of DraftKings and sits just across the state line from Memphis, making it the closest casino sportsbook for many bettors in that metro area. The book is woven into the venue’s sports bar, pairing staffed windows with kiosks scattered around the floor for fast wagers. Southland completed a major expansion that added a high-rise hotel, and it remains one of the busiest gaming venues in the state. The property also has a long history with greyhound racing.

Saracen Casino Resort, Pine Bluff

Saracen is owned by the Quapaw Nation and anchors the central part of the state in Jefferson County. It opened the state’s second retail sportsbook in 2019 and continues to run its own BetSaracen brand rather than partnering with a national operator. The Saracen Casino Annex added betting kiosks and windows, and the property is also known for its dedicated poker room. For bettors who prefer a homegrown book and a central location, Saracen is the natural choice.

Legends Resort and Casino, Pope County

The fourth license created by Amendment 100 was assigned to Pope County, and it has been tied up in disputes almost from the start. Local voters in the county pushed back against hosting a casino, rival companies competed for the license, and the result has been years of administrative wrangling and court battles over who has the right to build and operate the property. Through all of it, no casino has been completed, so there is no retail sportsbook in Pope County and no online skin attached to this license.

The situation has remained unsettled into 2026, with the project repeatedly stalled rather than resolved. If and when a casino does open there, it would be authorized to run a sportsbook of its own and could give one more national operator a path into Arkansas, nudging the market closer to its six-skin ceiling. For now, the state effectively operates with three casinos rather than four.

List of All Land-Based Sportsbooks in Arkansas

Bettors near the state line sometimes cross into neighboring states with legal betting. Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee all offer wagering, and Caesars Sportsbook operates a retail book at Horseshoe Tunica in Mississippi, within easy reach of West Memphis.

The single most distinctive feature of Arkansas law is its revenue-sharing rule. Any third-party operator that partners with an Arkansas casino must give at least 51 percent of its net sports betting revenue to that casino, keeping only 49 percent. That share is one of the highest mandated in the country. In most states, operators negotiate their own revenue split, and national brands typically keep the large majority of revenue.

For years the terms were a strong deterrent, and FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM stayed out rather than accept them, which left the market to the three casino-run brands. The rule did not change in 2026. Instead, FanDuel and DraftKings decided the access was worth the split, partnered with Oaklawn and Southland, and entered the state under the existing terms. It is important not to confuse this 51 percent revenue share with a tax. The state tax on operators is separate and is described below.

To see why the rule was such a sticking point, it helps to know how the rest of the country works. In a typical state, an operator either pays the state a tax and keeps the rest, or negotiates a market-access fee with a casino partner that leaves the operator with most of its revenue. Arkansas flips that by guaranteeing the casino the majority share, which squeezes the margin a national brand has left over to spend on marketing, bonuses and risk.

For bettors, the rule helps explain why welcome offers and promotions in Arkansas have often been smaller than in hyper-competitive states, and why the market was slow to attract big names. It does not change how you place a bet or affect the safety of a licensed app, since it is a business arrangement between the operator and the casino. The 2026 entry of FanDuel and DraftKings showed that the biggest companies eventually decided reaching Arkansas customers was worth accepting the split rather than waiting for it to change.

Sports betting in Arkansas is governed by Amendment 100 to the state constitution and the rules adopted by the Arkansas Racing Commission, which handles licensing, certification, audits and enforcement. Operating an unlicensed sportsbook in the state is a criminal offense. The links below go directly to the state agencies, rules and statutes that control the market.

• Arkansas Racing Commission, the regulator that licenses and oversees sports betting.
• Arkansas Casino Gaming Rules, the full regulations, which include the rules for accepting wagers on sporting events.
• Casino Gaming and Sports Wagering Tax, the Department of Finance and Administration page covering the tax on gaming and sports betting.
• DFA Casino Gaming Section, which administers compliance, audits and the privilege tax.
• Fantasy Sports Games Tax, the state page covering the tax on daily fantasy operators.
• Arkansas General Assembly, where you can look up the text of House Bill 1942 and other gambling legislation.

Online and mobile betting launched in March 2022 and now drives most of the action in the state. The licensed apps are FanDuel, DraftKings and BetSaracen, available on iOS and Android and through desktop browsers. You do not need to be an Arkansas resident to use them, but you must be physically located inside Arkansas, which the apps confirm through geolocation that reads your device’s location. Arkansas allows remote registration, so you can create an account from home rather than visiting a casino in person, an advantage over some states that still require in-person signup.

Geolocation is the piece that trips up newcomers most often, so it is worth understanding. When you open a licensed app, it checks your physical location using a mix of GPS, nearby wifi and cellular signals, and it will block a bet if it cannot confirm you are inside Arkansas. Being an Arkansas resident is not enough on its own. If you are standing in Texas, Oklahoma or any other state, the app will not accept a wager, and your account works normally again once you cross back over the state line.

Most location problems come down to settings rather than anything wrong with your account. Turning on precise location, allowing the app or browser to access it, closing any virtual private network and installing a required location plug-in usually clears the error. Using a VPN to disguise your location violates every licensed operator’s terms and can void bets, so it should be avoided entirely.

How to Sign Up and Place Your First Bet

Getting started with a licensed Arkansas app is straightforward and applies to FanDuel, DraftKings and BetSaracen.

1. Download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play, or visit the operator’s website while inside Arkansas.
2. Register with your name, address, date of birth, email, phone number and the last four digits of your Social Security number.
3. Confirm you are 21 or older and allow the app to verify your location through geolocation.
4. Make a deposit using an approved payment method.
5. Find a market, add it to your bet slip, enter your stake and confirm the wager.

How Sports Betting Odds Work

Arkansas sportsbooks list prices in American odds, shown as a number with a plus or minus sign. A minus sign marks the favorite and tells you how much you would need to stake to win $100, so a price of minus 150 means a $150 bet returns $100 in profit. A plus sign marks the underdog and tells you how much profit a $100 bet would return, so plus 130 means a $100 wager wins $130. You do not have to bet in hundreds. The number is just a ratio, and the app calculates your exact payout before you confirm.

Odds also express how likely the book thinks an outcome is. The shorter the price on a favorite, the higher the implied probability, and the longer the price on an underdog, the lower it. Built into every line is the book’s margin, often called the vig or the juice, which is why the two sides of an even matchup are usually priced around minus 110 rather than even money. Comparing the same bet across the licensed apps and taking the better number is the simplest way to improve your long-term return, since a small edge in price adds up over many wagers.

The same logic carries across bet types. A point spread evens out a mismatch by giving the underdog a head start and asking the favorite to win by more than a set margin. A total, or over/under, asks whether the combined score will land above or below a posted number. A moneyline is simply a bet on who wins. Whichever you choose, the odds attached tell you both the payout and the chance the book is assigning to it.

Licensed Arkansas sportsbooks support a range of payment methods. Some banks decline card deposits to gambling sites, so it helps to have a second method ready. The table below summarizes the common options and how they work.

Because these operators are state licensed, your funds and personal information are protected under the commission’s rules, and disputes can be raised with the regulator. One unusual feature of Arkansas rules is that they permit deposits funded by credit the licensee extends to a patron, a provision many other states prohibit.

Licensed Arkansas books offer a broad and growing range of sports. Regulators roughly doubled the approved list in 2023, adding options such as lacrosse, sailing, bowling, cornhole and snooker. Available sports include the following:

• Football, basketball, baseball and hockey
• Soccer, golf, tennis and motorsports
• Mixed martial arts, boxing and bare-knuckle fighting
• Rugby, cricket, volleyball and lacrosse
• Darts, cornhole, bowling, snooker and table tennis
• Futsal, floorball, handball, sailing, cycling and rodeo

Available bet types include the following:

• Moneyline, a bet on which team or player wins outright.
• Point spread, a bet on the margin of victory or defeat.
• Totals, also called over or under, a bet on the combined score.
• Parlays and same-game parlays, which combine selections for a larger payout.
• Player and team props, bets on specific outcomes within a game.
• Futures, bets on long-term outcomes such as a league champion.
• Live, or in-game, betting on markets that update as the action unfolds.

Arkansas Betting Restrictions and College Rules

Arkansas is one of the more permissive states for college sports. Bettors can wager on college teams, including in-state programs such as the Arkansas Razorbacks, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Little Rock and Arkansas at Pine Bluff. The commission’s rules permit wagering on collegiate events, and unlike many states, Arkansas does not carve out a separate ban on props for individual college players. Because some guides describe this differently and rules can change, it is worth confirming current college prop availability inside your sportsbook.

Outside of college rules, the restrictions are clear. There is no esports betting, the rules do not permit wagering on political elections or virtual sports, licensed books do not offer entertainment or award props, and betting on high school and youth amateur sports is prohibited.

Arkansas combines sports betting with casino gaming for reporting and tax purposes, and the market has grown steadily since launch. Handle is the total amount wagered, while revenue is what the books keep after paying winners.

According to the Department of Finance and Administration, the state collected about $7.23 million in sports betting tax revenue between January and October 2025, an increase of more than 28 percent over the same period a year earlier.

Arkansas Betting Taxes and Where the Money Goes

Operators pay a tiered tax confirmed in state law and the commission’s rules: 13 percent on the first $150 million in net gaming receipts each fiscal year, and 20 percent on receipts above that level. The rate is the same for casino gaming and sports betting, which are taxed together. Amendment 100 directs how the tax is distributed. The breakdown is as follows:

Winnings are also taxable to the bettor. Gambling income is subject to federal tax, and Arkansas taxes gambling winnings as income at the state level. Keep records of your activity, and consult a tax professional about your own situation. Note that some guides incorrectly describe Arkansas as having a 51 percent tax rate. That figure is the casino revenue share, not a tax. The actual operator tax is 13 percent to 20 percent.

Arkansas has no major professional franchises, so college sports drive much of the betting interest. The University of Arkansas Razorbacks, who compete in the Southeastern Conference, are the centerpiece, with football in the fall and basketball through March. Bettors also follow Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Little Rock and Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

For professional sports, fans often back nearby teams. Popular choices include the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers in baseball, the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA, and the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues in the NHL. The biggest betting events of the year are the NFL season and Super Bowl, the March Madness college basketball tournament and, in Hot Springs, the racing season that builds to the Arkansas Derby.

Daily Fantasy Sports in Arkansas

Daily fantasy sports have been legal in Arkansas since 2017, when Governor Asa Hutchinson signed House Bill 2250. Arkansas was the first state to legalize daily fantasy that year and the ninth overall. The law is brief, focuses mainly on taxation and applies an 8 percent tax on fantasy operators. Major providers such as DraftKings and FanDuel offer fantasy contests in the state, separate from their sportsbooks.

Fantasy is legal but lightly regulated, and the state has acted against certain pick-style products. In 2024, regulators sent cease-and-desist letters to PrizePicks and Underdog. Arkansas also restricts fantasy contests based on college sports. The state’s tax treatment of these operators is detailed on the DFA Fantasy Sports Games Tax page.

Prediction Markets and Event Contracts

Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket, known as prediction markets, let users trade contracts tied to the outcomes of events, including sports, and they are regulated federally as commodity markets rather than under state gambling law. Their status in Arkansas is contested. The state attorney general’s office has taken the position that these platforms conflict with state law. Treat their availability as an unsettled question rather than a clearly legal form of betting.

Horse Racing Betting in Arkansas

Wagering on horses is the longest-running legal bet in the state, and it still draws a devoted following. The heart of it is Oaklawn in Hot Springs, a track dating to 1904 whose winter-to-spring meet builds toward the Arkansas Derby. That race serves as a marquee steppingstone toward the Kentucky Derby, a one-and-one-eighth-mile test on dirt for three-year-olds with a purse near $1.25 million. Its roster of past champions is a strong one, including American Pharoah, Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex, each of which won at Oaklawn before reaching bigger stages.

Betting from home is permitted as well, through services that take deposits in advance, known in the industry as advance-deposit wagering. Apps including FanDuel Racing and TwinSpires take action on Oaklawn cards and on meets nationwide, among them the three Triple Crown legs and the Breeders’ Cup. Southland in West Memphis also carries a long history of live greyhound racing, generally running from winter into early fall, though that sport has faded amid concerns over animal welfare.

Online Casino and Poker in Arkansas

Online casino games and online poker are not legal in Arkansas. Bills introduced in 2025 to authorize online casino gaming did not advance out of committee, so there is no regulated online casino market in the state. Sweepstakes casinos, which use virtual currencies and a promotional model, operate as a gray-area alternative, but they are not the same as a regulated online casino.

Online Lottery in Arkansas

The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery does not sell tickets directly online, but residents can use authorized lottery courier services to buy tickets through a third party. Lottery proceeds in Arkansas fund college scholarships and grants for state students.

Sports betting became legal in Arkansas in November 2018, but the full story stretches across several years and two separate launches, one for retail and one for online.

The path opened in May 2018, when the United States Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, letting each state decide the issue. Arkansas moved quickly. On Nov. 6, 2018, voters approved Issue 4, which became Amendment 100. It authorized casinos in four locations, in Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson and Pope counties, and allowed those casinos to take wagers on sporting events. The amendment as written allowed only in-person betting.

Retail betting came first. On July 1, 2019, Oaklawn accepted the state’s first legal sports wager and enjoyed a roughly six-month head start before other casinos joined. Saracen opened a sportsbook kiosk at its annex in October 2019, and Southland opened a retail book in January 2020, paused during the pandemic and reopened that September. Arkansas closed 2019 with about $11 million in total handle and grew to roughly $30 million in 2020.

Online betting took longer. The Arkansas Racing Commission approved online rules at the end of 2021, state legislators finalized them in February 2022, and the first online sportsbook went live in March 2022. Lawmakers meet only in odd-numbered years in Arkansas, which slowed the legislative side of the process. The biggest barrier to national brands was the revenue-sharing rule explained above, which kept FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM out for years. FanDuel and DraftKings finally accepted the terms in late 2025, won their licenses on Feb. 26, 2026, and launched on March 20, 2026. April 2026 became the first month in which Arkansas handle topped $100 million.

Arkansas Sports Betting Timeline

• May 14, 2018: The Supreme Court strikes down the federal sports betting ban, letting states legalize.
• Nov. 6, 2018: Arkansas voters approve Issue 4, which becomes Amendment 100, legalizing casinos and retail sports betting.
• April 2019: The Racing Commission adopts the first sports wagering rules.
• July 1, 2019: Oaklawn takes the first legal sports bet in Arkansas, a $5 wager on the Dallas Cowboys.
• Oct. 2019: Saracen opens the state’s second retail sportsbook.
• Jan. 2020: Southland opens a retail sportsbook, later branded Betly.
• Dec. 30, 2021: The Racing Commission approves online rules, including the 51 percent revenue-sharing requirement.
• Feb. 2022: State legislators finalize the online betting rules.
• March 2022: Online sports betting launches with Southland’s Betly brand.
• May 10, 2022: The BetSaracen app launches.
• Sept. 2022: The Oaklawn Sports app launches.
• June 2023: Regulators roughly double the list of sports that books may offer.
• Feb. 2024: Regulators send cease-and-desist letters to fantasy operators PrizePicks and Underdog.
• Sept. 24, 2024: Arkansas clears $1 billion in total handle since launch.
• 2025: Annual combined handle reaches roughly $639.5 million; FanDuel and DraftKings agree to the revenue terms.
• Feb. 26, 2026: The Racing Commission approves FanDuel and DraftKings.
• March 20, 2026: FanDuel and DraftKings launch statewide; Betly and Oaklawn Sports are retired.
• April 2026: Arkansas records its first month with more than $100 million in handle.

Licensed Arkansas sportsbooks use welcome offers to attract new customers, though the specific deals change often. Because Arkansas has only a few competing operators, promotions can be less aggressive than in larger markets. The most common types are described below. Always read the terms, including any minimum odds, playthrough requirement and expiration date, before you opt in.

• Bet and get offers, which reward a qualifying first bet with bonus bets, win or lose.
• Second chance bets, which refund a losing first wager as a bonus bet up to a set amount.
• Deposit matches, which add bonus funds based on the size of your first deposit.
• Ongoing promotions, including odds boosts, parlay insurance and Razorbacks specials.

Confirm the current promotion inside the app before signing up, since offers are updated frequently and vary by operator. Offshore sites advertise their own bonuses, but those come without state oversight and usually carry higher rollover requirements, so weigh them against the protections you give up. For more, see our guide to sportsbook bonuses.

Responsible Gambling in Arkansas

Betting should stay fun and within your means. Licensed Arkansas apps and retail books are required to offer responsible-gambling tools, including deposit limits, time limits and self-exclusion, which you can set in the app under the responsible gambling menu or request in person at a casino. Fantasy players can self-exclude from individual apps or through the National Voluntary Self-Exclusion Program. If gambling stops feeling like entertainment, help is available.

• National Problem Gambling Helpline, free and available 24 hours a day, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.
• National Council on Problem Gambling, call or text 1-800-522-4700 or chat online at ncpgambling.org.
• Arkansas Problem Gambling Council, the state’s primary advocate for treatment and education.
• Kindbridge Behavioral Health, which provides online counseling for Arkansas residents.

This is a sensitive topic. If any of this applies to you or someone you know, reaching out to one of these resources is a good first step.

This guide is researched from current reporting, state revenue data and the rules published by the Arkansas Racing Commission and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Sportsbook offers, promotions and state availability change frequently, so confirm current details with each operator and the state agencies linked above before you bet. This page is informational and is not legal or tax advice. If you choose to gamble, do so responsibly, and remember you must be 21 or older and physically located in Arkansas to use a licensed sportsbook.