Types of Greyhound Wagering in the US
Gambling on greyhound races in the United States is now conducted in three ways: live wagering, simulcast wagering, and advance deposit wagering. But since 1991, betting on dog racing has undergone a catastrophic decline from the industry’s peak of $3.5 billion. Since that time, several states have passed laws to eliminate all forms of wagering on dog races.
Percentages for each form of wagering in 2023
Live wagering on dog racing
Patrons can go to a track to watch and wager on a live greyhound race at one of the two remaining dog tracks in the United States. These two tracks are Wheeling Island Casino Racetrack and Mardi Gras Casino & Resort, both located in West Virginia.
In 2023, $8,819,511 was wagered on live racing at these two dog tracks, accounting for 2.2% of all greyhound betting in the United States.
Simulcast wagering on dog racing
Gamblers can bet remotely on greyhound races taking place at other tracks through a practice called simulcast wagering. There will typically be a simulcasting area at each track, where televisions broadcast live races occurring at other facilities around the country and even around the world. Foreign dog tracks are increasingly looking to the American market as a commercial opportunity to broadcast their signals.
Greyhound simulcast betting was prohibited in Kansas and Massachusetts in 2022, and in Colorado in 2024. But greyhound simulcast betting is still legal and operational in the sixteen states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Thankfully, four of these states have recently passed laws to phase out remote wagering. Greyhound simulcasting will end in New Hampshire on December 31, 2026, in Oregon on July 1, 2027, in Arkansas on January 1, 2028 and Arizona on December 31, 2028. Once these prohibitions take effect, gambling on dogs will remain legal in fourteen states.
It appears that greyhound simulcast gambling may also be offered at Native American tribal casinos in Louisiana and New Mexico. Greyhound simulcast wagering is also legal, but not operational, in Montana and Wisconsin.
In 2023, simulcast wagering on greyhound racing accounted for 62.4% of all bets placed on dog racing in the United States.
Advance Deposit Wagering on dog racing
Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) is a form of betting in which an individual deposits money into an account and that money is subsequently used to pay for pari-mutuel wagers in person, by phone, or online through a licensed provider.
The actual transactions placed by gamblers across the country are processed in Oregon or North Dakota, the two states where multi-jurisdictional totalizer hubs are legally permitted and operational. Oregon, however, will no longer process dog bets by July 1, 2027 after legislation passed there in May 2025 to prohibit such wagers. These hubs are similar to credit card processing centers. For example, if a bettor places a wager through one of the Oregon hub companies, regardless of where the gambler is located, the bet is considered to have been made in the state of Oregon.
In 2023, $144 million was wagered on dog racing though ADW companies with hubs licensed in both Oregon and North Dakota, accounting for 35.4% of all dog race wagering in the United States.
Concerns Over Legality of ADW
There has been tension over the legality of ADW as it relates to the Federal Wire Act and the Interstate Horseracing Act. The Interstate Horseracing Act was passed in 1978 to allow states to decide whether residents can make ADW bets on horse races from out-of-state operators, as long as ADW was legal in both states. However, it is important to note that the Interstate Horseracing Act applies specifically to horse races only, and makes no reference to the legality of ADW bets on greyhound racing. Attempts by the National Greyhound Association to pass an Interstate Greyhound Racing Act failed in 1989 and 1990.
Historically, the Wire Act prohibition was interpreted to apply to all online gambling. However, in September 2011 the Department of Justice issued an opinion related to state lotteries that concluded “Interstate transmissions of wire communications that do not relate to a ‘sporting event or contest’ fall outside the reach of the Wire Act.”
In 2014 U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and Congressman Jason Chaffetz introduced legislation to restore the original interpretation of the Act, prohibiting all forms of internet gambling except on horse racing. Their legislation was never considered.
Oregon’s role in propping up greyhound racing via ADW
Oregon outlawed live greyhound racing in March 2022. In May 2025, Oregon also prohibited greyhound simulcasting and the processing of internet bets from across the country through the Oregon Hub.
In 2023, $83.7 million or 20.5% of all dog race wagers in the United States were made over the internet via ADW companies licensed in Oregon. These gambling hubs operate under the controversial legal theory that bets placed by gamblers wagering from outside Oregon occur in Oregon, because that is where the processing centers are located.
$6.63 billion in racetrack wagers were processed in Oregon in 2023. Roughly 99% of these bets were on horse races, and only 1% on greyhound racing. Three companies use the Oregon hubs to process dog race bets: AmWest Entertainment, TwinSpires, and Xpressbet. Betting companies TVG and Premier Turf Club both discontinued offering dog racing bets since legislative action to restrict dog racing wagering was passed in 2022.
In 2023, alone, the Oregon Racing Commission reported that there were 10,542 greyhound injuries at dog tracks for which the Oregon ADW hubs were processing bets.
North Dakota’s role in propping up greyhound racing via ADW
Greyhound racing is illegal in North Dakota. Following the passage of legislation in Oregon that ends all gambling on dog racing by July 1, 2027, North Dakota is poised to be the only state hosting a multijurisdictional hub accepting remote wagers on dog races.
In 2023, 16.5% of all dog race wagers made in the United States were made over the internet via ADW companies licensed in North Dakota. As in Oregon, the hubs operate under the legal theory that bets placed by gamblers from outside North Dakota occur in North Dakota.
Internet gambling companies like US Off-Track electronically stream dog races on mobile apps and let people in states across the country place bets. The North Dakota Racing Commission licenses out-of-state ADW companies, with the majority of ADW profits retained by the internet gambling companies.
In Fiscal Year 2023, $60.7 million in ADW greyhound bets were processed in North Dakota, whereas over $1 billion in horse bets were processed. Dog racing accounted for only 5% of all ADW bets processed in North Dakota, and the state received just $145,000 in revenue derived from dog racing.
Polling conducted in 2023 by Thirty-Ninth Street Strategies for GREY2K found that 71% of North Dakotans oppose allowing foreign dog tracks to use their state to process bets. After hearing pro and con messaging, opposition rose to 75%.
In June 2024, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing to examine North Dakota’s involvement in facilitating greyhound racing bets. GREY2K Executive Director Carey Theil presented before this Committee. Legislation to phase out the processing of dog race bets passed the North Dakota Senate in 2025, but was defeated in the House of Representatives.
Involvement of foreign dog tracks
Foreign dog tracks in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Australia are using the North Dakota and Oregon ADW Hubs to facilitate bets from American gamblers. In January 2021 British company Sports Information Services (SIS), in partnership with AmWest Entertainment, introduced a new service that allows American gamblers to wager on races at British and Irish dog tracks. The agreement covers 53 race meetings per week, and as many as 33,000 dog races annually. The races are offered every seven minutes between 1:30 PM and 4:30 PM EST, with the stated goal to “keep bettors engaged and drive betting revenue.” This new betting service coincided with the end of greyhound racing in Florida, and is intended to prop up greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
