Over in America, some casino owners have come up with the savvy idea of getting around state law that bans gambling, opening ‘floating’ casinos on boats and positioning them on bodies of water that are outside of state legislation.
So what about the air space above ground? Could we see bookmakers start to accept bets on aircraft in a similar style to the floating casinos?
In theory, there’s nothing stopping anybody having a bet on their next flight out of, or into, a UK airport. As long as your flight has Wi-Fi, you can access your betting accounts accordingly.
But as soon as you leave UK airspace, that’s where things get a bit complicated, with the rules on gambling in each country determining the legality of it all. However, a new partnership signed by DraftKings and Delta Air Lines would suggest that the skies could become the next home of legal sports betting.
Up In the Air
You’re used to being offered drinks, fragrances and questionable hot meals on your flights, but the latest betting odds?
Well, if you travel to the United States and Canada with Delta, you may soon find legal sports betting offered on your flight into New York, Detroit etc.
The Delta CEO, Ed Bastian, is looking to expand the offerings available via the airline’s in-flight gaming hub, Delta Sync, and confirmed that he had signed a ‘partnership’ with DraftKings, one of North America’s leading bookmakers, when speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
Delta fly in and out of Heathrow, as well as parts of Europe, Asia and Oceania, so it will be interesting to see if they seek further partnerships with the sports betting operators that are legal and licensed in those jurisdictions – DraftKings exited the UK market in 2024.
Meanwhile, and completely by coincidence, lawmakers in Connecticut have created a new house bill that, if approved, would allow punters to place bets while their aircraft is travelling over state soil.
Is Sports Gambling on Planes Next?
A Connecticut bill to make gambling legal on flights taking off or landing in the state could be the first domino to fall on inflight gambling.
Via @Alex__Schiffer (+ insights from me) #SportsBetting @FOS https://t.co/2Lmuu9yAbk
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) January 23, 2025
Unsurprisingly, plans to take wagering into the skies have not gone down well with everyone. Senator Richard Blumenthal has cited the Gambling Devices Act, a piece of legislation enacted in 1962 that prohibits gambling on commercial aircraft, while calling for the deal between Delta and DraftKings to be annulled.
However, that legal act only outlaws ‘gambling devices’ – thought, specifically, to mean mechanical objects like slot machines or a roulette wheel. It will be up to the courts to decide whether or not a smartphone or tablet is considered to be a gambling device, or merely a vessel for communication and entertainment.
It should be reiterated that if you are flying into the United States, sports betting is illegal on your aircraft… for now, at least. If you are flying into or out of the UK, you can legally bet at the airport or even on the plane if Wi-Fi access is made available.
In a State
In-flight betting has been legal in some countries for a number of years, with some airlines – including Swiss International Air and Singapore Airlines – offering wagering facilities on board their aircraft.
However, an unspeakable tragedy effectively ended that. Swiss Air offered gambling machines on some of their flights in the 1990s, enabling players to enjoy blackjack, poker and so on. But one of their flights from New York to Geneva crashed in 1998, killing all 229 people on board, with faulty engineering of the entertainment system cited as the cause.
It’s possible that the agreement between Delta and DraftKings won’t involve real money wagering; instead, they may carry the operator’s branded free-to-play games like blackjack and roulette.
“Our partnership with DraftKings will build on the games portfolio that we already offer today via Delta Sync and our seatback screens,” Bastian said when revealing the deal between the two firms, which hints more at gaming than gambling.
The other challenge that lawmakers will face in introducing in-flight sports betting is that as the aircraft passes over one state to the next, gambling could effectively become illegal in that instant.
So the trials and tribulations of legalising in-flight sports betting are numerous. It will be interesting to see if Delta offer any kind of gambling product via their DraftKings connection, or they remain true to their word and offer a ‘gaming’ experience only.
For punters from the UK wanting to place their bets, it’s safer to do so while on home soil – rather than waiting until you get into American airspace.