FanDuel Montana: No App, Because the Lottery Owns the Market

FanDuel Montana is not waiting on a bill or a tribal compact the way Texas or Oklahoma are — Montana already legalized sports betting back in 2019, and deliberately cut private sportsbooks like FanDuel out of the deal. There is no FanDuel sportsbook app to download here, because state law made the Montana Lottery the one and only operator. This page covers what Montana actually allows, what that state-run product looks like, and where FanDuel fits — or doesn't.

Legal status in Montana

Montana legalized sports betting through House Bill 725, signed by Governor Steve Bullock in May 2019, which made the Montana Lottery the sole operator of sports wagering statewide — online, mobile, and in person. Bullock vetoed a competing bill, SB 330, that would have let private companies like FanDuel apply for licenses. The result, branded Sports Bet Montana, launched March 9, 2020: bettors can register and fund an account on an app, but can only actually place a wager while physically inside a licensed bar, restaurant, or other establishment running a lottery-authorized kiosk, geofenced by the Lottery's own technology. There is no statewide mobile betting the way there is in New Jersey or Illinois, and there is no license category a second operator could apply for, so FanDuel has no legal path into the Montana sports betting market at all. Separately, Montana is one of a small number of states that has treated FanDuel and DraftKings' traditional paid daily fantasy contests as the kind of real-money wagering its gambling statutes already cover, and both companies have historically geoblocked the state rather than contest it. A 2025 law, Senate Bill 555, went further by making unlicensed online casino and poker operation a felony and explicitly banning sweepstakes-style casino apps, underlining that Montana's gambling law is getting stricter, not looser.

State gambling authority: The Montana Lottery is the regulator and the operator for sports betting — a dual role that does not exist in most states, since HB 725 made it both the license-issuer and the only licensee. The Gambling Control Division of the Montana Department of Justice regulates other forms of gambling, such as live card rooms and video gambling machines, but has no authority over sports wagering.

FanDuel Montana isn’t a story about a slow legislature or an unresolved tribal fight — Montana moved fast, legalizing sports betting in 2019 before most states had even introduced a bill. The catch is who the law let in. Montana built a state monopoly, not an open market, and FanDuel was never invited.

2019: Montana Picks the Lottery Over Private Books

When the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting in 2018, Montana lawmakers had two competing bills on the table. Senate Bill 330 would have let private sportsbook operators — the FanDuels and DraftKings of the industry — apply for licenses, closer to how New Jersey or Pennsylvania run things. House Bill 725 went the other way, making the Montana Lottery the sole operator of sports wagering, online, mobile, and in person. Governor Steve Bullock signed HB 725 and vetoed SB 330, settling the question before FanDuel ever had a chance to apply for anything.

Montana was the first state to sign sports betting into law in 2019 — and the first to decide the market would have exactly one operator, run by the government itself.

Is FanDuel Legal in Montana?

No, and not because FanDuel skipped an application. HB 725 doesn’t just fail to mention private operators — it hands the entire market to the Lottery by design. The product that resulted, branded Sports Bet Montana, launched March 9, 2020. You can open the app and fund an account from your couch, but you can only place a bet while standing inside a licensed bar, restaurant, or other venue running one of the Lottery’s kiosks, with the Lottery’s own geolocation tech confirming you’re actually there. There’s no path to a second license, so there’s no path to a FanDuel sportsbook here under current law.

Is FanDuel Safe for Montana Players?

The honest framing is the same one that applies in any state with no licensed FanDuel product: there’s nothing here to use unsafely. FanDuel’s paid daily fantasy contests sit in the same bucket. Montana has historically treated real-money DFS as the kind of wagering its existing gambling statutes already reach, and FanDuel has geoblocked the state rather than contest that reading, so a Montana account shouldn’t be entering a paid contest regardless. None of this reflects badly on FanDuel as a company — it reflects a state that built its sports betting law around a monopoly from day one.

What Sports Bet Montana actually requires: an app for account setup and deposits, but a physical check-in at a licensed kiosk location — typically a bar or restaurant with a liquor license — before any wager goes through. That’s a meaningfully different product than the fully remote mobile betting FanDuel runs in states like Illinois or New Jersey.

Getting Stricter, Not Looser

If anything, Montana has tightened its gambling law since 2019 rather than opened it up. Senate Bill 555, enacted in 2025, made operating an unlicensed online casino or poker site a felony and specifically outlawed sweepstakes-style casino apps — the model several other states still tolerate in a gray zone. There’s no FanDuel Casino conversation to have in Montana either way, since the brand’s casino product is limited to five states that aren’t Montana, but SB 555 is a signal of where the legislature’s instincts are pointed.

Who It Fits

Nobody gets a FanDuel sportsbook in Montana, and nobody gets FanDuel’s paid fantasy contests either — the one FanDuel product that does run here, FanDuel Racing, only covers horse racing under a separate pari-mutuel license. If you want to bet sports legally in Montana today, Sports Bet Montana at a licensed local venue is the only road in, and it’s a narrower one than FanDuel offers almost anywhere else it operates.

FanDuel Montana — Frequently Asked Questions

Is FanDuel legal in Montana?

No. Montana legalized sports betting in 2019 through House Bill 725, but the law made the Montana Lottery the sole operator statewide, both online and in person. There is no license category a private sportsbook like FanDuel could apply for, so it isn't a matter of FanDuel being unlicensed yet — the state never created a slot for a second operator at all.

Is FanDuel safe to use from Montana?

There is no licensed FanDuel sportsbook reaching Montana, so there's nothing to vet on safety grounds for that product. FanDuel's paid daily fantasy contests are a separate question: Montana has historically applied its existing gambling statutes to real-money DFS, and FanDuel has geoblocked the state rather than test that in court, so a Montana address shouldn't be able to enter a paid contest in the first place.

Is FanDuel legit, even without a presence in Montana?

As a company, yes — FanDuel is a Flutter Entertainment subsidiary with a clean payout record across the 24-plus states where its sportsbook is actually licensed. Montana's absence from that list reflects a deliberate state policy choice to run a lottery monopoly, not any concern about FanDuel's legitimacy.

What is Sports Bet Montana, and can I use it instead?

It's the Montana Lottery's own sportsbook, launched March 9, 2020 after HB 725 made the Lottery the state's only legal sports betting operator. The app lets you create an account and load funds from anywhere, but it only lets you actually place a wager while you're physically inside a licensed bar, restaurant, or similar venue running one of the Lottery's kiosks — there's no at-home mobile betting the way FanDuel offers in states like New Jersey.

Could Montana ever license FanDuel directly?

Only if the legislature rewrites HB 725's core structure, since the current law doesn't just fail to license private operators — it affirmatively makes the Lottery the exclusive one. Montana's governor vetoed the 2019 alternative bill, SB 330, that would have opened the market to companies like FanDuel, and nothing comparable has advanced since. A 2025 law, SB 555, moved the opposite direction by criminalizing unlicensed online casino and poker operation.

Does FanDuel offer anything legal in Montana?

FanDuel Racing, the company's horse-race wagering product, operates in Montana under the separate legal framework that governs pari-mutuel betting — it launched in the state in 2024. That's a different product with a different license than the sportsbook most readers are searching for, and it doesn't touch football, basketball, or other sports markets.

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