Home to over 700,000 residents, Seattle has a very large sports betting population. The city is home to the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL, the Seattle Mariners of the MLB, the Seattle Sounders FC of the MLS, and the Seattle Kraken of the NHL. Seattle used to also have an NBA team, but the Seattle SuperSonics left for Oklahoma City in 2008. Teams in four out of five top professional US sports leagues is still very solid for the city.
Sports betting has become popular among Seattle residents over recent years, but I still often receive questions regarding the legality of online sports betting while living in various US cities. On this page I will try to dispel some of the myths surrounding the legality of placing online sports bets from Seattle, as well as provide you with a couple of reputable sportsbooks that accept American residents.
Is Sports Betting Legal In Seattle?
Sports betting is legal in Washington State, but currently only on location at tribal casinos. There are no tribal casinos in Seattle, therefore it’s technically illegal to operate a sportsbook in the city of Seattle.
Snoqualmie Casino, located thirty minutes east of Seattle was the first tribal casino to accept a legal sports bet in September of 2021.
Seattle residents that want to place sports bets online when not on-location at a tribal casino in Washington State, can currently only do so at offshore betting sites that are licensed and regulated outside of the USA, while accepting American bettors. I’ve outlined two popular and trusted offshore betting sites that accept Seattle residents below.
Best Sportsbooks for Seattle Residents
- Built for American bettors
- Wide variety of competitive betting lines
- Easy to navigate betting platform
Both Bovada and BetOnline are very popular sports betting sites for Seattle residents. Both sites are safe, secure and widely popular across the United States.
Bovada.lv is our top rated site because they cater only to the American market. This allows Bovada to fully customize their sportsbook, banking options and customer service to meet the needs of the American bettor.
Offline Sports Betting in Seattle
There are several tribal casinos in Washington State that have opened sportsbooks, including a handful that are within an hours drive of Seattle.
Washington State allows residents to wager on is horse racing, and luckily enough for Seattle residents there is a very popular race track located a half hour drive south of downtown.
Snoqualmie Casino
Snoqualmie Casino, known as “Seattle’s Closest Casino” is located a thirty minute drive east of downtown Seattle in the city of Snoqualmie. The Snoqualmie Casino’s sportsbook was the first to open in Washington State. The betting counters are currently open 7 days a week from 7am to 11pm on weekends and 9am to 11pm on weekdays, while the 12 betting kiosks are open 24 hours a day.
Emerald Downs
Emerald Downs is a popular horse racing track located in Auburn, just south of Seattle. It’s a fairly new facility in horse racing terms, having opened in June of 1996. Emerald Downs replaced Longacres race track, which closed down in 1992, and their biggest race of the year still carries the name of the defunct track. The Longacres Mile is a grade 3 race with a purse of $150,000 that takes place in August.
The track hosts live racing from May to September and you can bet on both the live races and simulcast races from tracks across the country at the venue.
***I should also note that you can wager on every live race at Emerald Downs at both of the online sportsbooks I recommended above.
Seattle Major Sports Teams
- Seattle Mariners (Baseball – MLB)
- Seattle Seahawks (Football – NFL)
- Seattle Kraken (Hockey – NHL)
- Seattle Sounders FC (Soccer – MLS)