Oregon Sports Betting

Is sports betting legal in Oregon?

Yes, sports betting is legal and live in Oregon at DraftKings Sportsbook and tribal casinos. You can bet online via the DraftKings Sportsbook app from anywhere within the state.

Online sports betting sites in Oregon

DraftKings took over sports betting in the state and began moving customers over to its app in January 2022. DraftKings online sportsbook is now the only available legal sportsbook app in Oregon. People in the state have access to the same app that DraftKings is known for in other states. The one clear difference is that in Oregon, the app does not feature any college betting.

Initially, the Oregon Lottery offered online sports betting through its own Scoreboard app. Although Scoreboard was powered by SBTech — a company that was later acquired by DraftKings — it did not achieve the results that the lottery was seeking. The lottery commission thus looked to its strategic partner’s brand identity for help.

DraftKings operates as the sole provider of sports betting in New Hampshire. So, in August 2021, commission leadership voted unanimously to turn the sports betting operations over to DraftKings Sportsbook proper.

Retail sportsbook locations in Oregon

Retail sports betting exists only in select tribal casinos in Oregon. The tribes are able to offer sports betting on their premises only — the tribal-state compacts do not permit online betting. 

However, one advantage of wagering in person is that the tribal locations will let you wager on college sports, including the games of both the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers. Here is the current list of venues where you can place a bet in person in Oregon:

There are also a number of tribal casinos in Oregon that do not offer sports betting but could at some point in the future. For now, these casinos feature different combinations of slots, table games, poker and the like:

• Indian Head Casino (Warm Springs)
• Kla-Mo-Ya-Casino (Chiloquin)
• Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort (Canyonville)
• Three Rivers Casino (Coos Bay)
• Wildhorse Resort & Casino (Pendleton)

Oregon sports betting law

While horse racing has been legal in Oregon since the 1940s, there was no lottery or legal gambling in the state prior to 1984 aside from private social and charitable gaming.

In 1984, the state established the Oregon Lottery with a constitutional amendment, and a few years later the lottery began offering Sports Action, a lottery game allowing players to bet on NFL games.

Interestingly, Sports Action would be the seed that allowed sports betting to grow, for better or worse, into what it is today in Oregon.

The existence of Sports Action gave the state an exemption when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act made sports betting illegal in much of the rest of the US in 1992. And years later, Oregon’s experience with Sports Action (which died in 2007) made the state confident it could handle sports betting through the lottery when the US Supreme Court overturned PASPA in 2018.

In terms of the law itself, bettors in Oregon will find different rules depending on whether they are at a tribal casino or using the DraftKings app — such as being able to bet on college sports only at a tribal venue. 

Bettors cannot wager on high school sports in Oregon, and you must be 21 or older to bet on sports in the state.

Popular sports to bet on in Oregon

NBA

There are just four states that are home to only a single team from any of the four major pro sports leagues, and Oregon is one of the four, with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers calling the state home.

The Blazers have been a staple of the NBA for more than 50 years, winning their lone championship in 1977, and are one of the most popular sports teams in the state to watch and bet on.

• Portland Trail Blazers: Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St., Portland, OR 97227 

Here are some of the other popular teams in Oregon:

• Portland Timbers, MLS
• Seattle Seahawks, NFL
• San Francisco 49ers, NFL
• Seattle Mariners, MLB
• San Francisco Giants, MLB

NCAA sports

While the Blazers are the only pro team in Oregon, the two most popular options overall in the state might be the University of Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers. Loyalties are split among Oregonians in this fierce rivalry, and both programs have had some notable teams.

However, as we mentioned above, you can’t legally bet on college sports online in Oregon, and that includes the Ducks and Beavers. The only option for college betting is to go to a sportsbook at a tribal casino. 

Other legal gambling options in Oregon

Horse betting

In 1997, Oregon became one of the first states to allow wagers from out-of-state bettors on horse and dog races, and the state still allows simulcast, on-track betting and advance deposit wagering. 

There is only one commercial horse track in the state, Portland Meadows, but there is also a fair circuit where bettors can wager on horse races at select dates throughout the summer. Here is a list of all of the locations bettors can wager on live horse racing in 2023:

• Portland Meadows, Portland
• Eastern Oregon Livestock Show, Union
• Southern Oregon Horse Racing Association, Grants Pass
• Crooked River Roundup, Prineville
• Tillamook County Fair, Tillamook

There are also several off-track betting locations in the state. For those wanting to bet on horses online, legal options in Oregon include TVG and TwinSpires. 

Casinos

While only four of the state’s nine casinos offer a sportsbook at the moment, all of them offer some combination of slots, blackjack, poker, craps, mini-baccarat and roulette. These nine casinos are owned by eight tribes and operate under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. 

Daily fantasy sports in Oregon

While there has not been any legislation to specifically allow daily fantasy sports in Oregon, several of the top sites are available in the state. Lawmakers appear unmotivated to rule on the activity one way or another. 

However, in an interesting twist unique to Oregon, DraftKings does not provide DFS services in the state. As part of the negotiation to acquire the rights to be the exclusive sports betting app in Oregon, DraftKings stopped accepting DFS entries as a show of good faith. 

FanDuel and other DFS providers are active in Oregon, however.

Oregon sports betting timeline

• January 2023: Oregon sports betting handle hits nearly $500 million in 2022. The total was an increase of more than $160 million from 2021.
• January 2023 also produces the highest single month sports betting handle in the state’s history with $62.3 million, almost $7 million than the previous record high from October 2022.
• January 2022: DraftKings Sportsbook officially takes over as the lone sports betting app in Oregon. 
• August 2021: The Oregon Lottery strikes a deal with DraftKings to take over as the state’s only online sportsbook. The state plans to close down its Scoreboard app in the new year. 
• August 2019: Sports betting officially launches in the state. Betting becomes available online through the state lottery’s Scoreboard app as well as in person at tribal casinos.
• May 2018: The US Supreme Court rules that PASPA is unconstitutional. The ruling opens the door for states to legalize sports betting if they wish.
• At first, Oregon’s app only allows lottery players to check their tickets for whether they have won or lost. However, the Oregon Lottery makes no effort to hide that back-end development to support online sports betting is going into the program’s design.
• 2005: The Oregon Legislature, weary from over a decade of lost economic impact, bows to pressure from the NCAA and passes a bill to discontinue Sports Action by 2007.
• 1992: The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act makes sports betting illegal throughout much of the United States. Oregon receives an exemption, permitting Sports Action to continue.
• 1989: The Oregon Lottery introduces Sports Action, a lottery game that functions like a sports parlay game. Players can wager on a set of NFL games and win based on those games’ outcomes.
• The list of available games later expands to include NBA games. However, perhaps due to the presence of the Portland Trail Blazers, the NBA protests its inclusion in Sports Action. The lottery discontinues the NBA portion of the game after one year.

Oregon sports betting FAQ

Who oversees Oregon sports betting?

The Oregon Lottery administers and regulates sports betting within the state. That includes oversight of the sports betting contract with DraftKings, but it does not include oversight of the tribal casinos.

Can I bet on college sports in Oregon?

Not on the DraftKings app in Oregon. The ban on college betting appears to be tied to the fact that lottery proceeds benefit higher education in the state. 

However, tribal casinos and their sportsbooks do not have such a prohibition, so you can wager on college sports at any of the four such locations in the state.

Can I bet on sports on my phone in Oregon?

Yes, you can bet on sports through the Oregon Lottery’s DraftKings Sportsbook app. 

Who can bet on sports in Oregon?

Anyone 21 or older is able to bet via the DraftKings app. You must be within state lines to place a bet, and the app verifies your location and age before allowing you to wager. 

Is there a chance that more sportsbooks are coming to Oregon?

Maybe. A well-funded group (Sport Oregon) with several big names — including Nike and the Portland Trail Blazers — has approached Oregon’s Joint Interim Committee on Gambling Regulation to advocate for a broader sports betting industry in the state.