Hawaii Again Exploring Online Sports Betting Legalization

• Hawaii lawmakers will again wade into sports betting evaluation in 2026
• Companion bills have been introduced in both the Senate and House
• Introduced legislation will allow for a minimum of six online sports betting licenses

Hawaii lawmakers will again evaluate the legalization of online sports betting, as companion bills have been introduced in both the Senate and House.

The two bills will allow for the legalization of online sports betting in the Aloha State with a minimum of six sports betting licenses awarded to applicants.

Hawaii online sports betting efforts stalled out at the end of the 2025 session after two different versions of a bill were approved in either chamber, but a conference committee could not broker an agreement to push the bill through.

Hawaii Sports Betting Bill Details

Sen. Dru Kanuha (D-3) introduced SB 3303, while Rep. Daniel Holt (D-28) introduced companion bill HB 2570, both of which seek to legalize Hawaii online sports betting. The bills were referred to their respective committees and are awaiting initial hearings.

The legislation will allow for a minimum of six online sports betting licenses for applicants and will tax sports betting at a rate of 15% of adjusted gross sports betting revenues. The suggested tax rate is higher than 2025 legislation that only floated a 10% tax rate, which several lawmakers believed to be too low to be worthwhile for the state.

Tax revenues will be allocated as follows:

• 2% to the University of Hawaii system to be distributed to the University of Hawaii at Manoa athletic department
• 2% to a Native Hawaiian organization
• 1% to the Hawaii Employees Lifeline Program
• 10% to the general fund (7% into the problem gambling prevention and treatment special fund and 7% used for programs that support education)

Under the bill, Hawaii online sports betting will be regulated by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. The fee for an initial license will be $500,000 and licenses will be valid for three years. Renewal fees will also be $500,000.

If approved, Hawaii must launch its online sports betting market within 180 days of the bill being signed into law.

The legislation will allow sports betting on college sports, but will prohibit betting on any events that include a Hawaii college or university. This prohibition will not extend to events being held in a tournament, such as the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Tax Rate, License Fees Killed 2025 Bill

Both the House and Senate passed versions of Rep. Daniel Holt’s bill, HB 1308, in 2025 to legalize Hawaii sports betting. However, key amendments to the bill led to a required conference committee to iron out the details between the approved versions of the bill.

The bill allowed at least four online sports betting licenses to be awarded to operators in the state. It originally called for the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to regulate Hawaii sports betting, but Director Nadine Ando expressed doubt that her department could do so during an earlier Senate committee meeting this month. The Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement was then tasked to regulate the new form of gaming.

The likely cause of the disagreement was the dedicated sports betting tax rate and license fee for operators. Holt’s bill originally called for a tax rate of 10% of adjusted gross revenues and license price tags at $250,000, with renewal fees also coming in at $250,000. The House amended the bill to leave the tax rate and license fees blank, as several representatives believed they should be higher.

The Senate then amended the bill to include Holt’s original tax rate and license fee. Both would have been among the lowest in the country if approved.

The conference committee could not come to an agreement and the bill was announced dead by lawmakers on Friday, April 25, 2025.