BetMGM Montana: Legal? No — It's a $66M Lottery Monopoly

BetMGM Montana: No License, the Lottery Keeps the Market

BetMGM Montana isn't on the operator's list of 23 states plus D.C. where its sportsbook actually runs, and it isn't a licensing delay the way it is in some other holdout states. Montana built a government-run monopoly for sports wagering in 2019 and has since made unlicensed online casinos a felony, which leaves no legal door for a joint-venture operator like BetMGM to walk through for either product.

Legal status in Montana

Montana's 2019 House Bill 725 made the Montana Lottery the sole operator of sports wagering statewide, branded Sports Bet Montana, and there's no license category a private operator like BetMGM could apply for even if it wanted one. BetMGM's casino product is a separate, narrower footprint nationally — Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia only — so Montana was never in line for that either. A 2025 law, Senate Bill 555, signed by Governor Greg Gianforte and effective October 1, 2025, expanded the state's internet-gambling definition to cover online casinos and made running one without a license a felony punishable by up to 10 years and a $50,000 fine, aimed squarely at the sweepstakes-casino model some other states still tolerate.

State gambling authority: The Montana Lottery both issues the license and holds the only one, a dual role created by HB 725 that leaves no opening for a second operator. The Gambling Control Division of the Montana Department of Justice oversees card rooms and video gambling machines but has no authority over sports wagering.

BetMGM Montana doesn’t show up on the operator’s own list of 23 states plus D.C. where its sportsbook is actually licensed, and the gap isn’t a pending application. Montana decided in 2019 that one operator would run sports betting statewide, and that operator is the state itself.

Is BetMGM Legal in Montana?

No. House Bill 725 made the Montana Lottery the sole operator of sports wagering, online, mobile, and in person, when it launched Sports Bet Montana in March 2020. There is no second license category written into the law, so BetMGM isn’t waiting its turn the way it is in a state like Missouri, which only just launched in December 2025 — Montana’s statute simply doesn’t contemplate a private operator at all.

What the monopoly is actually worth: the Montana Lottery reported roughly $66.2 million in sports-betting sales for fiscal year 2025, about $57.4 million paid out to bettors, and close to $5.96 million returned to the state. Lifetime sales since the 2020 launch sit near $314 million across just over 28,000 registered app users — a small, state-run market by national standards, but not a dormant one.

No Casino Product Here Either

Even setting the sportsbook question aside, BetMGM Casino wouldn’t follow automatically. The casino product is a narrower footprint than the sportsbook nationally — Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia only — so Nevada, Illinois, and most of BetMGM’s other sportsbook states don’t get it either. Montana has no commercial casino licensing structure to plug a product like that into in the first place.

Is BetMGM Safe for Montana Players?

There’s nothing to assess on safety grounds for a product that can’t reach the state. BetMGM geofences its app to its licensed states, so the practical safety question for a Montana resident is really about Sports Bet Montana, the Lottery’s own product, which runs under the state’s own geolocation and age checks rather than a commercial operator’s.

SB 555: The Market Got Less Open, Not More

Governor Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 555 in 2025, effective October 1, expanding the state’s definition of internet gambling to cover online casinos and making it a felony — up to 10 years and a $50,000 fine — to run one without a license. The law was aimed at sweepstakes-style casino apps, a model several other states still allow in a gray zone, but the broader signal is the same one BetMGM runs into on the sportsbook side: Montana isn’t building toward a licensed private market, it’s closing off unlicensed ones.

Who It Fits

Nobody gets BetMGM in Montana, sportsbook or casino, and that’s a function of state law rather than anything about BetMGM’s 23-state, D.C.-inclusive footprint elsewhere. A Montana resident who wants to bet on sports legally has exactly one option: Sports Bet Montana, in person at a licensed bar, restaurant, or other kiosk location. If gambling stops being entertainment, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

BetMGM Montana — Frequently Asked Questions

Is BetMGM legal in Montana?

No. Montana's 2019 law handed the entire sports-betting market to the Montana Lottery as the single statewide operator, so there's no license BetMGM could hold even where it's a full brand elsewhere — the state didn't leave a slot open for a second operator.

Is BetMGM safe to use in Montana?

There's no licensed BetMGM product reaching Montana to evaluate on safety grounds. The state's own sportsbook, Sports Bet Montana, is the thing actually regulated here, run under the Lottery's geolocation and age-verification rules rather than a commercial operator's.

Is BetMGM legit, even with no Montana presence?

As a company, yes — BetMGM is a 50/50 joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Entain, licensed and live in 23 states plus D.C. as of September 2026, with a real 2025 revenue track record. Montana's absence from that map is a state policy choice, not a mark against the brand.

How big is Sports Bet Montana, the app BetMGM is competing against?

Not very, by national standards, but it's real: the Montana Lottery reported about $66.2 million in sports-betting sales for fiscal year 2025, with roughly $57.4 million paid out and about $5.96 million returned to the state. Lifetime sales sit near $314 million across just over 28,000 registered app users.

Would BetMGM Casino be available in Montana if the sportsbook ever launched?

Not automatically. BetMGM's online casino product is limited to four states nationally — Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia — even in states where its sportsbook is fully live, like Nevada. Montana would need its own separate casino licensing framework, and as of this writing it has none; Senate Bill 555 moved the state toward criminalizing unlicensed online casino play instead.

What happens if a Montana resident uses BetMGM online anyway?

BetMGM geofences its product to its licensed states, so a Montana IP address shouldn't be able to reach it in the first place. Separately, Senate Bill 555 raised the stakes for unlicensed online gambling generally, making it a felony to operate an unlicensed online casino from October 1, 2025 onward — all the more reason there's no gray-market workaround worth attempting.