MA To Legalize Sports Betting: What To Know

MASSACHUSETTS — The House and Senate reached a decision to allow legal sports betting in Massachusetts early Monday morning - five hours after the state's official midnight deadline.

House Speaker Ron Mariano confirmed the compromise that had once stalled sports betting in the Bay State just after 5 a.m. The bill will now move to Gov. Charlie Baker who has ten days to approve or reject it.

"I am proud to announce that the Sports Betting Conference Committee has reached an agreement on legislation that will legalize wagering on professional and collegiate sports in Massachusetts, bringing the immense economic benefits of a legal sports betting industry to Massachusetts," Mariano said.

Baker has expressed his support for sports betting in Massachusetts in the past "We filed a bill in 2019 and again last year to make sports gaming legal," Baker tweeted back in February. "MA is losing out to neighboring states on this, especially during big games."

If approved, Massachusetts residents 21 and older will be able to legally bet on professional and Division I college sports, but excludes betting on colleges in Massachusetts - a substantial compromise between the House and the Senate's opposing views that also contradicts Mariano's most recent tweet.

However, the Boston Globe reported that if an in-state college is competing in a national tournament - all bets are on, including March Madness. Credit cards will not be allowed to pay for placed bets.

"The Senate bill came out with no college at all — the House had full college," Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues said Monday. "That's how you get things done, is reach compromise."

If Baker gives the bill the green light, Massachusetts will join 30 other states and Washington D.C. that allow sports gambling, the American Gaming Association said.

Lawmakers didn't immediately say when betting would start in Massachusetts, but Mariano said casinos had been prepped, they're just waiting for formal regulations.

It's also unclear how much revenue legalized sports wagering will actually bring to Massachusetts.

"We are thrilled that our home state has acted to protect consumers, create jobs and grow revenue in the Commonwealth," CEO of Draftkings Jason Robins said in the statement. "We particularly want to thank Speaker Mariano, Senate President Spilka, Chairs Michlewitz and Rodrigues and the members of the conference committee for their leadership. We are hopeful that the legislature will move to quickly pass this bill and Governor Baker will sign it into law."