Massachusetts Casinos Come up with Unified Front for Sports Betting Legalization

Three state-approved casinos came up with a unified front to suggest ideas on how sports wagering should be regulated in the Codfish State. The plan which was presented in the Massachusetts State House…

…encomes several fields such as the tax rate, number of awarded license as well as regulation of mobile wagering in the state.

Three Proposals on the Docket

The MA State House saw three different proposals for sports betting legalization. Gov. Charlie Baker suggested a total ban on accepting bets on amateur sports. On the other hand, another idea allows wagers on collegiate events, excluding the contests that involve a school from Massachusetts. Sen. Brendan Crighton explained as follows:

“We cannot compete with the legal market unless we allow betting on NCAA games. This betting is going on currently and we’re not going to be able to offer a model that lures folds away [from the illegal market] unless we include what is one of the more popular forms of betting.”

Unified Plan

According to the t testimony, representatives of the casinos pointed out they wanted a regulated sports wagering market with a single-digit tax rate. As for the number of licenses, they hope between five and seven should be awarded. Moreover, they stressed that…

…the casinos should be the only facilities to accept bets at physical locations. The subject of mobile betting was also among topics to be discussed. Casino representatives argued that this activity should be limited to the three venues. They also added that “a limited number of daily fantasy operators with proven sports wagering experience.”

As far as the experiences from other US states show, there are many aspects to be taken into consideration and adjust when introducing plans to legalize sports betting.

Details from January’s Bills

The beginning of the year saw the biggest steps forward regarding the regulation of sports betting activities in the Bay State. Each of the bills was suggested by three senators, dealing with various aspects of this form of entertainment. Here are some of the highlights:

• Bill S882 aims to permit land-based retail and mobile sportsbook with a proposed GGR tax of 6.75%
• Bill S903 suggests standalone mobile sportsbooks and land-based retail wagering as well as a significantly higher tax of 12.5%
• S908 seeks to establish a regulatory body or a commission that would make research on best ways to operate sports betting

As far as experts from the state’s Gaming Commission claim, regulated sports betting in Massachusetts could generate an annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) of about $408.6 million, based on both retail and web-based wagering. If the activity is permitted only in casinos, then the lowest GGR amount is predicted to be around $127.4 million.

Source:

“Massachusetts Casinos Present Unified Fronton Sports Betting Regulations”, Narayan Niji, europeangaming.eu, June 4, 2019.