Once the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports gambling three weeks ago, states moved quickly to seize this new opportunity.

Two states have already moved to legalize sports betting. The governors of both Delaware and New Jersey signed into law bills allowing residents to start placing bets at local casinos and racetracks.

The Supreme Court decision is expected to have far-reaching effects — experts suggest that illegal betting in the United States is a $50 billion to $150 billion industry — and for the time-being, Delaware and New Jersey will be the only new states in the sports gambling business.

Delaware was first out of the gate, because state officials decided they didn’t need to tweak existing laws to account for the Supreme Court decision.  Sports wagering in Delaware will effectively be administered by the Delaware Lottery, which already ran “parlay bets” (multi-game wagers) on pro football games; it oversees the state’s casino gaming industry.  Much of the necessary infrastructure was already in place, therefore, and casino and gaming authorities have spent the past couple of weeks training Lottery staff on gaming terminology and its new menu of betting options.

New Jersey was next to announce its program, the culmination of a protracted fight to legalize sports betting, one that pitted the state against both the NCAA and professional sports leagues. The state estimates that sports betting will bring in about $17 million in the first full year.  Casinos and racetracks will pay an 8.5 percent tax for in-person betting and 13 percent for online betting, with an additional 1.25 percent tax on electronic bets placed at racetracks.

Other states will soon follow suit.  Pennsylvania has legalized the practice and is working to draft regulations that must be in place before books can open.  License applications are currently open for casinos.  In Mississippi, where lawmakers proactively legalized sports gambling at the state’s 28 licensed casinos in anticipation of a favorable Supreme Court decision, regulators have proposed rules that could be voted on as early as June 21.  Casinos there could start taking bets in late July.

West Virginia also passed a sports betting law before the Supreme Court decision.  There, officials hope to have sports betting up and running at the start of football season.