Best US Betting Sites – Top Online Sportsbooks for 2024

Our ratings of the best sports betting sites and sportsbooks – ranked by our expert authors – are here to help you achieve your maximum potential. We only offer accurate and trustworthy information.

Written by: James Taylor

Last edited by: Luke Andrews

Updated on: 07.11.2024

Rundown of the 5 Top-Rated Bookmakers

We looked in-depth at every available online sportsbook in the US market, and the following five rose above the rest:

1. BetMGM – Best overall sportsbook
2. DraftKings – Most available states for betting
3. Betway – Strong odds for NFL and soccer
4. Caesars Sportsbook – Excellent coverage of basketball
5. BetRivers – Great wagering slip for placing bets

Find out why they made the cut in the section below, where we give you the best features, negatives, and our personal opinion.

Number One: BetMGM

BetMGM lives up to its name as the “king of sportsbooks,” offering real value in its average payouts of around 94.09%. The welcome bonus is also great for new players, with up to $1,500 money back on offer.

• Best Features: BetMGM is available in every legal state, meaning that it is the best-represented online sportsbook. With 20+ sports also available to wager on, it is the perfect combination.
• Biggest Negative: You need to bet on specific markets to validate bonus.
• Our Opinion: James Taylor says, “I love the range of betting markets and deposit options at BetMGM. It caters for rookies and experienced gamblers alike.”
• Our Review: BetMGM sportsbook review.
• Available States: AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, MS, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, DC, WV, WY

Number Two: DraftKings

DraftKings offers one of the best sports betting experiences out of all the major operators. They have decades of experience in the fantasy sphere. They know exactly what the user wants, placing a wager extremely easy and they have great coverage of most sports.

• Best Features: DraftKings has the top betting app. They also offer 25+ sports to bet on, with a whole array of wager types.
• Biggest Negative: Not many live streaming options available.
• Our Opinion: James Taylor says, “I think DraftKings is a well-known brand for a reason. They offer a top product that is hard to beat.”
• Our Review: DraftKings sportsbook review.
• Available States: AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, MS, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, DC, WV, WY

Number Three: Betway

Betway is a global brand, and with a good selection of sports on offer (up to 21), both domestic and international events are covered. With in-play markets also being offered, they are a great choice.

• Best Features: Betway is an international brand, with years of experience. An excellent feature is the betting app, where placing a bet is simple and fast.
• Biggest Negative: Limited payment options.
• Our Opinion: James Taylor says, “I really like the live section at Betway, as well as their dedicated betting app.”
• Our Review: Betway sportsbook review.
• Available States: AZ, CO, IA, IN, NJ, OH, PA, VA

Number Four: Caesars Sportsbook

Caesars is another sportsbook that is available in most of the legal states, and as the official sponsor of the NFL they are extremely popular. With parlay profit boosts and a Caesars rewards program, the average bettor has lots of extra offers to take advantage of.

• Best Features: Caesars sportsbook is excellently designed, and we found the Bet Slip’s accessibility the best feature of the site, both on desktop and the app.
• Biggest Negative: Limited live streaming.
• Our Opinion: James says, “I love Caesars Bet Slip. You can clearly see the bets you have open, and ones that have been settled. It makes managing your bets easy.”
• Our Review: Caesars sportsbook review.
• Available States: AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, MS, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, DC, WV, WY

Number Five: BetRivers

BetRivers is available in 14 states and caters to all types of gambler. The $250 Second Chance Bet, allows new users to get used to the platform with security and peace of mind.

• Best Features: BetRivers provides an iRush Rewards loyalty program for both betting and casino players which is fantastic for those of you who like to collect loyalty benefits.
• Biggest Negative: Lack of deposit options.
• Our Opinion: James says, “I really appreciate the number of bonuses offered. There are same game parlay boosts, and first TD profit boosts too.”
• Our Review: BetRivers sportsbook review.
• Available States: AZ, CO, IA, IL, MA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, WV

Sports Betting Sites by Category

We’ve undertaken extensive research into every legal and licensed online sportsbook that is currently available in the nation. Each of the them excel in different areas. We’ve gathered the best sports betting sites by category below:

What We Expect From Sportsbooks Appearing on Our Site

When we review a site the following points must be adhered to. Any online sportsbook that does not follow these guidelines will not feature on BestBettingSites.com.

• License: For any site to appear here they must possess a valid license for their respective state. We do not promote illegal or offshore sites.
• Odds: Each site must provide fair odds and payouts. They should not try to manipulate them in any way.
• Bonuses: All bonuses should be fair and easy to achieve. Any unrealistic offers will not be presented by our team.

Why Trust BestBettingSites.com’s Recommendations?

Our team are experts in the field of online sports betting. We have personally reviewed over 700 online sportsbooks worldwide, and our tried and tested methods have benefited users for over a decade.

We have over ten authors on our site who specialize in different areas. We have reviewed and produced over 12,000 articles and have over 15 years of experience in the industry.

Each operator we feature on our domain has been personally tested by us. Our commitment to transparency and attention-to-detail means we are a globally trusted review site.

Our Rating Criteria

To ensure that we use the most accurate methods to determine the best sports betting sites, we use a set of criteria to test the most important elements. By doing this, we have been able to accurately compare all the licensed and safe sportsbooks in the fairest way possible. Your personal needs and preferences should also be considered, but we recommend using these factors as a minimum starting point.

Licensing and Security

Using a secure and safe online sportsbook is the most important factor for us. We want to ensure that you are only betting with a licensed website. This will guarantee that your personal private information, including your payment details, is protected. That’s why it should be the first thing you look for when choosing a site to gamble with.

The best betting sites will use systems to recognize compulsive gambling and guide players to helpful resources. There are several reputable responsible gambling organizations operating in the USA. Take a look at the logos above, and if you see them on a sportsbook site, you can trust that they operate in good faith. License numbers should also be easy to find on the website homepage, along with links to the appropriate licensing body.

Sports and Leagues

In our evaluation of the best betting sites, we considered how frequently sportsbooks offer wagers on all types of sports and leagues, including minor league sports and college divisions. We also lookd at other special betting options such as wagering on major world events or awards shows. The variety of sports markets is integral to a good operator.

The table is just a small snapshot of the wide variety of sports markets available at our featured sportsbooks. The great thing is that the sporting events and contests are not limited to those hosted in the United States. In fact, one of the more popular contests amongst local gamblers is betting on international cricket matches, which occur year round.

Payout, Odds and Lines

Moneylines employ plus (+) and minus (-) signs to display how much you would need to bet to win $100. For example, if there were NFL odds for a game displaying Houston for +375 and Kansas City for -500, you would need to bet $500 to win $100, and if you bet $100 on Houston and they won, you’d win $375.

Once you understand how different odds work, it will be helpful in ensuring that you’re only betting with online sportsbooks with the best odds. To help you further, we calculated the average payouts of the top US sportsbooks – using our dedicated betting calculator – with bet365 standing above the rest.

• bet365 – 94.25% Payout Rate
• BetMGM – 94.09% Best Payout Rate
• Caesars – 94.09% Payout Rate
• Betway – 93.75% Payout Rate
• BetRivers – 93.27% Payout Rate

Betting Bonuses & Promotions

Often, the first introduction to an online sportsbook will be a link to claim a welcome bonus- therefore, this is a key consideration when choosing a betting site. Not all bonuses are the same, and we encourage you to read the terms and conditions. The most common welcome bonuses include bet credits, deposit matches, and second chance bets. Below are our top picks:

While we can vouch for the fairness of the welcome bonuses that we have recommended, it’s worth adding that before you claim any bonus, look out for a few terms in particular, including the wagering requirements, the length of the bonus validity, and the minimum odds that are needed to wager no-sweat bets. The lower the wagering requirement, the less you must wager your sportsbook bonus to withdraw it, and a longer validity is always ideal.

Type of Bets

The best sportsbooks should always offer a wide range of betting types, with the most popular being money line bets, over/under, point spread, and prop wagers, and nowadays parlays (all explained in our betting glossary). This ensures that bettors always have access to fair bets as well as have access to bets that may better suit their individual desires or areas of expertise. Below, we’ve given the most common bet types at online sportsbooks.

Sports Betting Apps: A Key Consideration

In today’s betting market, it’s becoming increasingly important to offer a good sports betting app. States that offer legal mobile betting are having the most success, with bettors much quicker to embrace the convenience of betting from apps. The best betting apps will work seamlessly on both iOS and Android devices and sacrifice little to no features that appear on desktop versions. The top-rated apps are below:

• BetMGM Betting App – Their app provides convenient access to multiple lines
• Betway Betting App – Easy to navigate through numerous sports
• Caesars Betting App – The user interface is easy to understand
• Bet Rivers Betting App – Extra betting features available
• bet365 Betting App – A seamless betting experience

In some cases, sports betting apps will also allow for users to both stream live sporting events as well as place in-play bets, making for a much more engaging betting experience. The design, navigation, and how you place a wager, all factor in our rankings.

Live Betting & Live Streaming

In most states where sports betting is legal, in-play betting is available. As you can see below, each site offers a different degree of live features, whether that’s a varying number of live events, cash out options, and live streams for different sports. Live betting is exploding in popularity, thus it is an important ranking factor.

The best possible live betting feature that a sportsbook can provide is the addition of live streaming. By allowing you to watch sports events within the betting platform, it creates one of the most exciting ways to bet at home. Cash Out is also a handy feature that allows you to claim your wins before a game has ended. If an operator has these, they rank strongly.

Payment Methods

The best sports betting sites will provide a wide range of payment methods for all kinds of transactions. These include credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, prepaid cards and eWallets. It is an extremely important criteria some bettors may overlook. Ideally, you want fast and secure transactions when trying to place a bet and withdraw your winnings. The standard options are below:

Website Functionality

The best sportsbooks have websites that are intuitive to use and will not frustrate users by confusing them. When we see a sportsbook that has paid close attention to detail with functionality, as well as provided some extra special features, we have no choice but to recommend them over sites that are clunky and minimal.

Extra Features

When a sportsbook offers something extra they rank highly with us. These good-to-have features include live streaming, cashout, live score, and fast bet. Take a look below to explore what each betting site offers.

Note, some states with legal sports betting do not always allow certain extra features. If you’re struggling to find advertised features at a site you’ve signed up with, you could always ask customer care.

Customer Service

Just as in day-to-day life, the customer service at online sportsbooks is important enough to help us decide if we want to return. It could even be argued that good customer service completes a site. Some things to watch out for are the available contact methods, the quality of help, the availability, and waiting time.

The best customer service will always be available 24/7. If you find that a sportsbook offers few service options in a limited timeframe, this could be a red flag that indicates the operator is not as attentive with its customers’ needs, and they will not rank well with us.

Reputation of the Operator

Another factor to consider when ranking a betting site is the reputation that the reviewed sportsbook has in the USA. By looking at how the betting community and the gambling industry feel about different betting sites, we can gauge a lot about how good their products are.

We’ve read what the sites’ customers have said about it on forums and social media. We’ve considered both the positives and negatives to ensure that our final ranking is based on the reality of being a new or loyal customer with the site.

How to Open an Account at an Online Sportsbook

Opening an account with an online betting site is a fairly standard process that should be nearly identical no matter where you’re registering. The first step to take is to click Join or Register at the homepage of a betting site, or by clicking to claim the advertised welcome bonus. The main steps are below.

Regulation of Sports Betting

Before 2018, Nevada was the only state that was allowed to offer legal sports pool betting. This was in part due to a law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), which effectively outlawed all sports betting in the US except for four states, three of which could only offer sports lotteries.

In 2009, New Jersey challenged PASPA as being unconstitutional, and in 2018, the Supreme Court overturned the sports betting ban, paving the way for states to decide whether or not they wanted a legal betting market. Since then, the US has seen roughly 27 states legalize sports betting, and some of the best sports betting sites come to fruition.

• Marina District Development Company LLC – (BetMGM) – Licence No NJIGP 15-001
• Digital Gaming Corporation – (Betway) – Licence No NJIGP 10-001
• Caesars Interactive Entertainment New Jersey, LLC – (Caesars) – Licence No NJIGP 23-013
• BetRivers HSP Gaming – (BetRivers) – Licence No NJIGP 15-002
• Bet365 Group Ltd – (bet365) – Licence No NJIGP 20-010

Because of its relative infancy, the US sports betting market is undoubtedly one of the most exciting in the world. The American Gaming Association estimates that US gamblers spent $15 billion on sports betting in 2022, indicating that the future value of the industry could well exceed over $20 billion by 2030.

State-by-State Overview

The industry isn’t regulated by a single federal blanket law, it’s therefore necessary to look at the relevant laws of individual states to learn how each market is regulated and what is legal. For example, states such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey have extremely open sports betting markets that allow for gambling online at licensed sports betting sites. Below, we’ve have the states that have legalized sports betting.

If you are in another state and have noticed that there are online sportsbooks accepting customers from your location, be careful. These offshore websites are not licensed and may not be trustworthy to sign up to. Joining these sites may get you in trouble with the law or result in you being a victim of a scam.

Operators to Avoid

No matter what you’re doing online, you should always be certain that your real money transactions are protected with reliable security features. Of course, online betting sites are no exception to this rule. The best betting sites, many of which we have recommended in this guide, will provide the latest and most advanced security features and have earned the licensing to prove it. Unfortunately, we need to name and shame the worst websites that have earned reputations for being unsafe and not trustworthy.

There are several reasons that these websites need to be avoided. For one, they have been flagged by a number of international gambling authorities for operating in illegal markets without licensing. This kind of blatant illegal activity suggests that they have no interest in providing legal or fair betting options to customers. If in doubt, only use trusted betting sites recommended by us.

Responsible Gambling

Any website worth signing up to has to take their commitment to responsible gambling seriously. We also share this commitment. Here are a few tips to help you bet safely and responsibly:

• Stick to a Budget – Make sure that when you bet, you do so with money you have. Plan a budget you are willing to spend and stick to it. Do not go over this limit.
• Don’t Chase Losses – Getting emotional and not using your head is a sure fire way to incur unessary harm. Chasing losses is not a good idea, take a step back and think rationally before placing a wager.
• Responsible Gambling Resources – If you ever feel as though you are struggling there are many resources available for you to use. The National Council on Problem Gambling has a 24-hour helpline. All operators should offer tools to stay in control.

Summary & Conclusion

This guide was designed to help you choose the best site for you. Always consider what you want from a sportsbook. Depending on which state you’re located, betting sites will offer a variety of wager types and sports. You can see our recommendations below:

• BetMGM – Best Overall Sports Betting Site
• DraftKings – Reputable Sportsbook with Good Odds
• Betway – Top for Live Betting
• Caesars – Great Payouts on Different Sport Markets
• BetRivers – The Best Odds on Football

We will continue to regularly update our reviews and recommendations. We also want to add that our evaluations never end, and if one of our recommended sites drops in quality or is overtaken by another site, we have no qualms about removing them from our rankings.

Frequently Asked Questions

We’ve dedicated this section to answer some frequently asked questions about sports betting sites. We have provided accurate responses to these questions and offered links to the relevant sections in case more detail is needed.

What are the best US betting sites?

We are always updating our table of the best sports betting sites as the market is constantly changing. Currently, we value BetMGM as number one. Even so, with more and more states legalizing sports betting, we’re still seeing an influx of reputable international sportsbooks debuting in the country. For this reason, we’ll continue to update our best sportsbooks and hope that you’ll keep checking in on the latest and greatest offers.

What betting offers can I find at online sportsbooks?

There are always great betting offers to claim for new customers and loyal bettors alike. These bonuses frequently include 2nd chance bets, deposit matches and credits. Take the time to research what welcome bonus will suit your betting style, but make sure you also always read the terms and conditions to ensure that the wagering requirements aren’t too high and the validity is long enough.

Which states allow legal online sports betting?

There are currently 27 US states that offer a legal sports betting market. Each has its own sports betting regulations which determine what kind of activities are legal. For example, in some states you may need to make your bets in person. In others, mobile wagering may be permitted.

Do all operators offer live betting as a feature?

Yes, in-play betting  is legal and possible in many states. However, the availability of this feature is not guaranteed. If it is something you’re interested in, make sure that you check whether your prefered sportsbook offers live betting. In many cases, sportsbooks will offer live betting and live event streaming, which makes for the most exciting in-play betting experience.

What is the best sport betting app?

There are several online sportsbooks that are providing the top sports betting apps, and considering not all are available in every legal state, it’s impossible to recommend only one in particular. Be sure to check our mobile betting section for a breakdown of how each app excels and to check whether or not it offers the features you’re interested in.