Hawaii will stay free from legal sports betting and all other types of gambling for a minimum of another year.
If you had been able to wager on the result of House Bill 1308, a measure to permit, oversee, and tax online sports betting in Hawaii, most experts would have wagered against the island state sending the bill to Gov. Josh Green’s (D) desk for approval.
Hawaii legislators have consistently debated gaming legislation in almost every legislative session of the past ten years without success. Nevertheless, what appeared to be a certainty prior to the Legislature meeting in Honolulu that no gambling bills would gain support, the chances improved significantly as HB1308 progressed through the House of Representatives and Senate.
Both chambers eventually approved HB1308, but the numerous amendments made by each side resulted in a special conference committee being formed to seek consensus. On the last day of the 2025 session, the committee showed its stance — no agreement had been achieved.
Gaming Continues to Be Suspended
While Hawaiians must wait at least another year to make legal sports bets, the progress of HB1308 close to completion is a significant rallying point for gaming advocates.
"There’s never been a bill that went this far in gaming,” said Cliff Laboy, a lobbyist who fought to get HB1308 passed. “Get the task force, go out there, find out, study, do your due diligence, come back, go back to the table and figure out which way you want to go. Hawaii needs something like this. There’s no other way unless the legislators can come to the general public with a plan on how we’re going to bring new money into the state.”
Senate and House legislators disagreed on the type of tax rate and licensing fee that should apply to sportsbooks. They also had differing opinions on whether recognized Native Hawaiian organizations, as identified by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, ought to receive preferential treatment in bidding for online sports betting concessions.
The impasse means that Hawaii stays devoid of any type of lawful gambling. In addition to sports betting, Hawaii neither has nor permits tribal or commercial casinos, parimutuel wagering, lotteries, charitable gaming, fantasy sports, iGaming, or racinos.
Gaming Rivals Commemorate
The regulatory disparities of the Legislature weren’t the sole reason HB1308 didn't succeed. Numerous state legislators resisted the bill due to worries that legalizing sports betting would increase problem gambling rates and lead to societal issues.
State Rep. Lauren Matsumoto, the Republican Minority Leader, stated that a thorough analysis on sports betting should be finalized first.
"It’s more prudent for us to do the study first than it is to just pass the bill,” Matsumoto said, adding that she heard from many constituents in opposition of the measure. “Once you have that toehold, that leads to the foothold that could lead to casinos. I think it’s important for us to tread cautiously, because once you open that up, there’s no taking it back.”
Les Bernal, one of the leading anti-gambling advocates in the country and head of the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation, stated that permitting sports betting in Hawaii would unleash widespread gambling.
“If you bring in online gambling, you’re opening a Las Vegas casino in every home, every bedroom, every dorm room, and every office that has an internet connection,” Bernal said. “This is the fifth state this year that said no to expanding online [sports] gambling because they’ve seen what happens to other states.”
“It’s a public policy disaster,” Bernal concluded.