Here's What Legal Sports Betting Could Look Like In Massachusetts

BOSTON, MA — State lawmakers gave the first glimpse of what sports betting in Massachusetts could look like when they released legislation Friday that had been under consideration by a committee for nearly a year.

The bill means Massachusetts could have legalized betting on professional and Division I college sports before lawmakers recess this summer. While the Massachusetts Gaming Commission would have final say on the rules, the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies gave a glimpse of what bettors can expect:

• Betting would be restricted to people over 21, and they would have to be physically in Massachusetts whether they place a bet at a sports book or through an online app.
• The state’s resort casinos, its slots parlor, and tracks with live horse racing could take sports bets. The committee also left room for as many as five online-only operators to set up sports books in Massachusetts.
• The state's cut would be about $20 million per year, according to the committees' projections.
• Five percent of all sports bets would go to a newly-created Collegiate Health, Wellness, and Education Fund to protect collegiate athletes from potential pressures that could come with legalized sports betting.
• The state's casino operators also lobbied for a provision in the bill that would make them the only companies allowed to take in-person bets, meaning an online gambling company like Boston-based DraftKings would not be able to set up a brick-and-mortar betting parlor.
• Athletes, coaches, umpires and officials, team or league employees and others who may be able to influence games or have inside information would be barred from placing bets.
• The bill does not include a provision to share revenue with sports leagues, although the NBA and other leagues have asked for a 0.25 percent cut.

The bill differs from the proposal by Gov. Charlie Baker, which would not have allowed betting on college sports. After studying sports betting, the committee determined that excluding betting on college sports would allow black market wagering to proliferate.

Rhode Island, New Hampshire and 15 other states have already legalized sports betting. In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled prohibition on sports betting was unconstitutional, giving states the right to legalize it.