Mass Sports Betting

Massachusetts may not only legalize sports gambling. The state may eventually become a new hub for online sports wagering. The decision to punt sports betting to the 2021-22 legislative session disappointed casino operators and others pushing for a legal sports betting market in Massachusetts.

Over the next few weeks, regulators at the Mass. Gaming Commission expect to be briefed on the proposals filed on Beacon Hill related to sports betting and could get an update on a commission effort to refile a bill that would change the way horse racing is managed.

The sports betting bills that Gov. Charlie Baker and Sen. Brendan Crighton filed last month, and many others that have been filed since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to legalize the activity, would put the Gaming Commission in charge of licensing and overseeing sports betting operators in Massachusetts.

The commission has not participated in the drafting of any sports betting bills but has been studying the issue for years in anticipation of it being made legal here.

During an agenda-setting meeting Wednesday, commission staffers said they could provide a rundown of the various sports betting proposals that will be before the Legislature this session and what new responsibilities they would put in the commission's lap at one of the panel's next two meetings.

In 2018, the commission prepared a white paper on sports betting to highlight key considerations for lawmakers and to map out how the Legislature might think about introducing another new form of gambling in the Bay State.

The commission could also get a report in the coming weeks, general counsel Todd Grossman said Wednesday, on the effort that's been underway by a small group at the Gaming Commission to 'draft legislation to create a new Chapter 128D to overhaul the racing' aspect of the commission's responsibilities.

Over the years, lawmakers have extended the racing and simulcasting laws for a year at a time, often waiting until just before or after the deadline to pass extensions.

In 2018 and 2019, lawmakers missed the deadline, and racing and simulcasting were briefly illegal in Massachusetts.

The commission has not participated in the drafting of any sports betting bills but has been studying the issue for years in anticipation of it being made legal here.

During an agenda-setting meeting Wednesday, commission staffers said they could provide a rundown of the various sports betting proposals that will be before the Legislature this session and what new responsibilities they would put in the commission's lap at one of the panel's next two meetings.

In 2018, the commission prepared a white paper on sports betting to highlight key considerations for lawmakers and to map out how the Legislature might think about introducing another new form of gambling in the Bay State.

The commission could also get a report in the coming weeks, general counsel Todd Grossman said Wednesday, on the effort that's been underway by a small group at the Gaming Commission to 'draft legislation to create a new Chapter 128D to overhaul the racing' aspect of the commission's responsibilities.

Over the years, lawmakers have extended the racing and simulcasting laws for a year at a time, often waiting until just before or after the deadline to pass extensions.

In 2018 and 2019, lawmakers missed the deadline, and racing and simulcasting were briefly illegal in Massachusetts.

For about five years, the commission has been asking lawmakers to give serious consideration to giving it broader powers to regulate the racing industry and put an end to one-year extensions of racing and simulcasting authority.

The commission's legislation did not gain traction with lawmakers in previous sessions.

Last year, before the COVID-19 pandemic upended most plans on Beacon Hill, Sen. Paul Feeney told the News Service that he and Rep. Tackey Chan were working on 'a comprehensive bill that addresses all of these issues' and that would allow the Legislature to 'stop this dance' of extending licenses every few months.

Under the most recent extension, horse racing and simulcast wagering are legal in Massachusetts until the end of July 2021.

Massachusetts Sports Betting App

(Copyright (c) 2020 State House News Service.

Legalizing sports betting in Massachusetts was left out of the economic development bill this week, but an industry expert predicts the Bay State will get off the sports betting sidelines 'soon enough.'

'We're in the 8th inning,' Daniel Wallach, founder of the University of New Hampshire School of Law Sports Wagering and Integrity Program, told the Herald on Wednesday.

'I've heard nothing to suggest this will be derailed,' he added, predicting sports betting will be legalized in Massachusetts during the first quarter this year.

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New Hampshire recently boasted about the revenues it's raised through sports betting.

'In just one year, sports betting has been a MASSIVE success in the Granite State with over $300 MILLION wagered, providing over $10 MILLION in funding for our public education system,' N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu tweeted at the end of December. 'NH made the right bet!'

Sports Wagering Massachusetts

A spokeswoman for the Gov. Charlie Baker administration said in a statement on Wednesday, 'Governor Baker filed comprehensive sports betting legislation in January 2019 to make Massachusetts competitive with other states, and will carefully review the final economic development bill on his desk.'

Sen. Eric Lesser said there's a 'strong desire' in the State House to legalize sports betting in the near future.

'I personally would like to see legalization move forward in this new session, but the focus of this economic development bill was to provide COVID-19 relief to families, small businesses, and hard-hit communities in an unprecedented time, so that was our focus,' Lesser said in a statement.

DraftKings is located in Boston, Wallach noted.

Mass Sports Betting Bill

'There are a lot of powerful forces that want to see it happen in Massachusetts,' Wallach said. 'The professional sports teams badly want to see it happen, and the casino industry could use the boost.'