The market for legal sports gambling in the United States widened significantly on Tuesday with expanded betting in Delaware Wes Horton Jersey , putting legal wagering within driving distance of three major East Coast cities less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to accept the bets.

Instead of flying to Las Vegas or betting illegally, fans in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington can make a short drive to legally bet in Delaware on the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Final or the World Cup. More states are likely to join the action by the time the NFL starts its season in the fall.

”Giants and Yankees, all day, every day,” Manhattan native Karriem Keys said Tuesday after betting on the New York Giants to win the Super Bowl next year.

Keys, 53, who now lives in Dover, was one of a couple of dozen people laying down early wagers at Dover Downs as Delaware became the first state outside Nevada to offer legal gambling on individual sporting events.

”In New York, we would go right to the corner store, to the bodega, and bet,” Keys said. ”That’s not legal, but, you know, everybody was doing it. But now it’s legal so it’s great.”

Gov. John Carney had the honor of placing the first bet, wagering $10 on the Philadelphia Phillies to beat the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.

”I’m a big sports fan, a big Philadelphia sports fan,” said Carney, who traveled to Minnesota in February to watch the Eagles win the Super Bowl.

Dover Downs casino workers took in 36 bets within the first 20 minutes of legal wagering. The offerings at Delaware’s three casinos include bets on professional baseball, football Myles Jack Jersey , hockey, basketball, soccer, golf and auto racing.

Because of a failed sports lottery experiment in 1976, Delaware was partially exempted from the 1992 federal ban on sports gambling that was recently struck down by the Supreme Court.

That exemption led to broader sports betting legislation passed in 2009 and Delaware’s NFL parlay wagering system, which gave the state a head start in offering more wagers.

”I just had to get in on the action, you know what I mean?” John Celatka of Dover said after betting on Tuesday night’s Colorado Rockies game and Wednesday night’s NBA Finals game.

Celatka said he’s done pretty well with NFL parlay wagers and single-game wagers was a logical next step.

”I’m excited to get started with football season,” he said. ”I like my chances.”

Fans in three other states could be placing bets by football season.

In New Jersey, which successfully challenged the federal ban, lawmakers hope to have a bill signed by the end of this week that resolves competing proposals to allow sports betting at casinos and horse racing tracks.

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. That means casinos could start taking bets in late July.

West Virginia also passed a sports betting law before the Supreme Court decision, and officials there hope to have sports betting when football season kicks off. The West Virginia Lottery Commission is working on draft rules and regulations but has given no timetable for when they might be ready.

”We’re not going to start until we know we can do it 100 percent correctly,” lottery director Alan Larrick has said.

Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has said he wants state officials, professional leagues and casinos to reach an agreement on what the leagues have called an ”integrity fee” – money that the leagues would use to police betting patterns – but the subject was not addressed in a recent special legislative session.

Thus far, no state law has made it to the books with the integrity fee attached.

Pennsylvania also prospectively legalized sports betting last year, but it could be months before regulations are in place that would allow sports books to open. State officials have not produced an estimate of what sort of tax revenue the activity could mean for Pennsylvania, which already rakes in more in taxes on casino gambling than any other state. But some gambling industry officials are warning that Pennsylvania’s 34 percent tax rate – plus another small cut for local governments that host casinos – and the $10 million licensing fee will make it unprofitable to run a legal sports betting business.

In the meantime, Pennsylvania gaming officials notified casinos last week they could begin applying for licenses. So far, none has submitted an application.

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Nuckols reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Jackson, Mississippi, Marc Levy in Harrisburg Nate Orchard Jersey , Pennsylvania, and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.

When John Tavares‘ contract ran out with the New York Islanders, he took the opportunity to talk with other teams.

”I felt like I owed it to myself to see what else was out there,” Tavares said.

Tavares’ exploration led him to rediscover his childhood affinity for the Maple Leafs, and his confidence in Toronto’s future led him to sign a monster $77 million, seven-year contract. The Islanders were left with nothing, a mistake other NHL franchises seem determined not to make.

Don’t wait. Sometimes not even a day.

On Sunday, when Tavares’ departure left a void on Long Island, the Sharks signed Logan Couture, Coyotes signed Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Kings signed Drew Doughty and Lightning signed Ryan McDonagh to long-term deals. None of them would have been free agents until July 1, 2019, and this was the first possible chance to ink extensions that begin more than a year from now.

It’s worth every penny to San Jose, Arizona, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay to get those contracts done now rather than risk a key player even exploring unrestricted free agency like Tavares did.

”If you wait too long and you get into the situation where they have the potential to walk or explore the UFA market, that can be challenging times,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said.

The Ottawa Senators are trapped in such challenging times. They made a contract offer to Norris Trophy-winning captain and 2019 free agent Erik Karlsson, but it’s not a great sign that the real negotiating is only just beginning.

”We’re not going there,” GM Pierre Dorion said. ”We don’t really want to talk about roster players, contract negotiations Luke Kuechly Jersey , trades, all these things, but I think we owe it to our fans and we made a promise at the town hall that we would make a contract offer to Erik Karlsson and we’ve done so.”

Tick, tick, tick. Even a year away, the pressure is on the Senators to sign Karlsson long term or trade him before the deadline so they don’t end up like the Islanders.

The Coyotes made sure they wouldn’t be in that spot by locking up Ekman-Larsson to a $66 million, eight-year deal that the soon-to-be 27-year-old defenseman called ”a no-brainer.” Arizona GM John Chayka calls it ”a huge moment for our entire organization” because there’s now no fear of losing Ekman-Larsson for nothing.

”A superstar-caliber player has the option to basically go to any of the 31 teams and felt the loyalty, felt the belief in what we were doing enough to sign on long term,” Chayka said, adding that the Coyotes had to convince Ekman-Larsson with actions that they were moving in the right direction.

The Kings convinced Doughty of that so much, he knew all season he was going to re-sign. He’s building a new house in the LA area, is getting married this summer and is ready to start a family in a place he wants to stay for essentially the balance of his career.

”I never wanted to leave there, to be honest,” Doughty said. ”It will be nice not to answer the question, `Hey are you coming to Toronto? You’re coming to the Leafs, right?’ No, I’m not coming to the Leafs, everyone.”

Doughty signing for $88 million over eight years sets the bar for Karlsson, who could face similar questions if he goes into the season without a future contract like Tavares did. Over the past week, Tavares began wondering if he would play for his hometown Maple Leafs, a bond too deep for the Islanders to overcome.

Couture grew up not far from Toronto, but he never entertained that possibility because he signed a $64 million Joe Namath Jersey , eight-year deal with the Sharks. Couture respected Tavares’ choice and made his own without much difficulty.

”We have some very good players: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Brent Burns, Martin Jones, Evander Kane – very, very good players – Joe Pavelski,” Couture said, rattling off core players all signed long term. ”I want to win. That’s my goal as a hockey player. I believe that San Jose has and will continue to have a very, very good chance at winning in the future. That’s why my decision was so easy.”

It was just as easy for McDonagh, who signed a $47.25 million, seven-year deal with the Lightning, who acquired him at the trade deadline. McDonagh was comfortable with Tampa Bay, which went through an almost-Tavares situation two years ago with captain Steven Stamkos before signing him on the eve of free agency.

Days after signing Stamkos in 2016, the Lightning extended top defenseman Victor Hedman at the first possibly moment like they did with McDonagh. GM Steve Yzerman knows how to work ahead, which is often essential in today’s NHL with important players.

”(If you wait), you don’t really know how it’s going to go,” Yzerman said. ”We go into next year for both parties, we don’t know, and I think it’s worthwhile exploring the opportunity now.”

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