Lawmakers in the most populated state in New England, Massachusetts, are attempting to get sports betting up and running. Several twists and turns have transpired with trying to launch sports betting in the state.
There has also been a lot of finger-pointing between sports betting advocates and lawmakers in the state. According to new reporting from the Salem News, there appears to be some new movement to fast-track sports betting and deal with the rules and regulations later.
A fierce supporter of legalized sports betting, Democratic Senator Brendan Crighton, said on Thursday that he has a stringent goal for sports betting. Crighton will re-file a previously submitted sports betting bill. The senator would like to see sports betting at casinos and racetracks and be available for online accounts through DraftKings.
Crighton and other lawmakers would work on how sports betting would be taxed and what programs the profits would go to.
Could be the Only State Without Rules in Place
Senator Crighton’s effort would be quite unique, as it would be the only state to have sports betting up and running with no rules and regulations in place. Of the two dozen or so states with legal sports betting, all of them had the laws hammered out before platforms launched.
This is basically the same sports betting bill that was filed during the last legislative session in Boston.The current sports betting bill would also allow betting on college games across the country.
Crighton has said that sports betting in Massachusetts has been around for many decades. People are spending an obscene amount of money on betting on sports. It’s betting in the black market, and the state needs to be able to pour that money back into the state. The only way that will happen is if the state legalizes sports betting and demolishes the black market.
Operators Would Probably be Taxed at 15%
Although this new filing of the sports betting bill doesn’t have the rules and regulations cemented in, some of the most important issues had to be included in the bill. One of the issues is how much sports betting operators would be taxed by the state.
The amount in the bill states 15% and calls for the Gaming Commission to oversee sports betting. One of the changes to the current sports betting bill is the amount the sports betting licenses would cost.
In the previous bill, the amount was $9 million. The current bill has gone up by a million dollars to $10 million.
The state lawmakers have been struggling to measure passed and have been trying since the Supreme Court overruled a ban on sports betting in 2018. There has been a lot of fighting between lawmakers, sports betting advocates, and Massachuttes voters that have participated in panels to discuss legal sports betting.
The last sports betting bill was included in an economic development package with items totaling $692 million. The rest of the bill passed through the house and the senate. However, the sports betting bill was not included in the final bill that passed both houses of the state
