Andy Lyons/Getty Images. Pictured: TJ Hockenson and Roger Goodell
The NFL Draft has long been a marquee offseason event, and it’s turning into betting event as well. The prop markets are robust, and change daily with news. It’s everything that’s fun about mock drafts, with a betting spin.
However, even in some legal betting states, you can’t wager on the NFL Draft because of state gaming regulations. Even stranger, in West Virginia and Michigan, there’s a cutoff to bet the NFL Draft, which happens to be the night before.
Here’s where you can and can’t bet the NFL Draft in already-legal online betting states.
NFL Draft Betting States
| State | Can You Bet the Draft? |
|---|---|
| New Jersey | Yes |
| Pennsylvania | No |
| Michigan | Until Midnight Wednesday |
| Iowa | No |
| Indiana | Yes |
| Colorado | Yes |
| Tennessee | Yes |
| West Virginia | Until 8 p.m. ET Wednesday |
| Illinois | Yes |
| Virginia | No |
| New Hampshire | Yes |
Why Can’t I Bet on the Draft in Some States?
For example, why can’t you bet on the NFL Draft in Pennsylvania? It centers around how the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board defines a sporting event — and it doesn’t consider the NFL Draft one:
“The business of accepting wagers on sporting events or on the individual performance statistics of athletes in a sporting event or combination of sporting events by any system or method of wagering, including over the Internet through websites and mobile applications.”
What’s With the Cutoffs?
Michigan, a state with otherwise strong betting regulations, has a bizarre quirk for the NFL Draft. Wagering for the first round will be cut off at midnight on Wednesday, so you can’t try to slip any last-minute, news-based bets in. Wagering for the second and third rounds will end Thursday night, and betting for the final day will end Friday night, according to a DraftKings spokesman.
West Virginia will also cut off wagering at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday.