{"id":190196,"date":"2021-10-27T07:23:59","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T14:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=190196"},"modified":"2021-10-27T14:43:03","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T21:43:03","slug":"massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Sports Bets Pushed as Wagers Begin in Connecticut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Massachusetts sports betting has been an item of discussion in the Boston capital nearly since the Supreme Court in 2018 ruled that states — not the federal government — should determine their own individual laws on sports gambling. But with the legislature’s 2021 session set to conclude in less than a month, some lawmakers say it’s time to act and pass a sports gambling statute.<\/p>\n

\"Massachusetts
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker wants a bill that legalizes sports betting to come to his desk. But lawmakers in Boston are struggling to decide how the gambling activity should operate and be regulated. (Image: The Boston Globe<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Legal sports betting, both in-person and online, recently went live in Connecticut. Now, four of the five states Massachusetts shares a border with have regulated sports wagering. People in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire can place a sports bet legally.<\/a> But those inside Massachusetts cannot.<\/p>\n

\n

It’s time to do something,”<\/strong> declared Massachusetts Sen. Eric Lesser (D-Hampden) during an online discussion hosted this week by the State House News Service<\/i>. “This has absolutely been a top-tier issue. It’s been something many of us have been working on, on almost a daily basis. And there’s very active conversations going on.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Only 21 days remain until the Massachusetts Legislature is scheduled to adjourn for the year. Numerous concerns regarding the authorization of sports betting remain among lawmakers.<\/p>\n

College Betting Key Issue<\/b><\/h2>\n

Numerous attempts to legalize sports betting in Massachusetts have failed over the past three years. But earlier this year — House Bill 3977 — easily won approval in the lower legislative chamber with a 156-3 vote.<\/p>\n

HB 3977 would grant the state’s three casinos, as well as state horse racetracks<\/a>, retail sportsbook privileges. HB 3977 would also sanction up to three mobile sports betting skins at a cost of $5 million each.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The legislation, which gained House approval in July, hasn’t been embraced in the Senate because of its inclusion of college sports. Lesser says the state should begin with odds and lines on professional sports only.<\/p>\n

“Pro sports teams want legalized gambling,” Lesser stated. “Why don’t we get started where there’s a consensus?”<\/p>\n

\n

Lesser has introduced his own sports betting legislation in the Senate. His bill — S.269 — would also allow the state’s three commercial casinos and horse racetracks to operate sports betting, plus permit online wagering. But a major difference is that all amateur sporting events — including college athletics — would be prohibited.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Another major difference is the proposed tax rate on gross revenue stemming from sports betting. The House sports betting bill seeks to impose a 12.5 percent fee on land-based sports betting, and 15 percent online.<\/p>\n

Lesser’s bill suggests an effective tax of 20-25 percent on sports betting income.<\/p>\n

Money Flowing Out<\/b><\/h2>\n

While Massachusetts lawmakers must still come to terms on how to regulate sports betting, they generally agree that it’s time to act in order to keep gaming dollars inside the state. If the legislature can pass a sports betting bill, it will likely find support in the governor’s office.<\/p>\n

\n

There are a whole bunch of states that are pretty far around the bases, down the field,”<\/strong> Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said this week.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“I know people who live in Massachusetts who drive to New Hampshire just to do it,” the governor continued. “I don’t know why we wouldn’t just incorporate the very basic framework that’s been adopted by most of these places.”<\/p>\n

He added that the legislature would order some of the revenue generated and “make sure some of it gets put to good use to help people who are dealing with gambling issues and other issues like that.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Massachusetts sports betting has been an item of discussion in the Boston capital nearly since the Supreme Court in 2018 ruled that states — not the federal government — should determine their own individual laws on sports gambling. But with the legislature’s 2021 session set to conclude in less than a month, some lawmakers say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":190198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMassachusetts Sports Betting Effort Intensifies in Boston Capital<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Massachusetts sports betting continues to be discussed in the Boston capital, but lawmakers remain at odds regarding college sports.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Massachusetts Sports Betting Effort Intensifies in Boston Capital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Massachusetts sports betting continues to be discussed in the Boston capital, but lawmakers remain at odds regarding college sports.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-27T14:23:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-27T21:43:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/s3___bgmp-arc_arc-feeds_generic-photos_to-arc_ryanwindbaker2met-61787348d8ab6-768x432-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/\",\"name\":\"Massachusetts Sports Betting Effort Intensifies in Boston Capital\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/s3___bgmp-arc_arc-feeds_generic-photos_to-arc_ryanwindbaker2met-61787348d8ab6-768x432-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-27T14:23:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-27T21:43:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"Massachusetts sports betting continues to be discussed in the Boston capital, but lawmakers remain at odds regarding college sports.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/s3___bgmp-arc_arc-feeds_generic-photos_to-arc_ryanwindbaker2met-61787348d8ab6-768x432-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/s3___bgmp-arc_arc-feeds_generic-photos_to-arc_ryanwindbaker2met-61787348d8ab6-768x432-1.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Massachusetts sports betting college\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Massachusetts Sports Bets Pushed as Wagers Begin in Connecticut\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Massachusetts Sports Betting Effort Intensifies in Boston Capital","description":"Massachusetts sports betting continues to be discussed in the Boston capital, but lawmakers remain at odds regarding college sports.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Massachusetts Sports Betting Effort Intensifies in Boston Capital","og_description":"Massachusetts sports betting continues to be discussed in the Boston capital, but lawmakers remain at odds regarding college sports.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-10-27T14:23:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-27T21:43:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/s3___bgmp-arc_arc-feeds_generic-photos_to-arc_ryanwindbaker2met-61787348d8ab6-768x432-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/","name":"Massachusetts Sports Betting Effort Intensifies in Boston Capital","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/s3___bgmp-arc_arc-feeds_generic-photos_to-arc_ryanwindbaker2met-61787348d8ab6-768x432-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-10-27T14:23:59+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-27T21:43:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"Massachusetts sports betting continues to be discussed in the Boston capital, but lawmakers remain at odds regarding college sports.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/s3___bgmp-arc_arc-feeds_generic-photos_to-arc_ryanwindbaker2met-61787348d8ab6-768x432-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/s3___bgmp-arc_arc-feeds_generic-photos_to-arc_ryanwindbaker2met-61787348d8ab6-768x432-1.jpeg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Massachusetts sports betting college"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/massachusetts-sports-betting-effort-intensifies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Massachusetts Sports Bets Pushed as Wagers Begin in Connecticut"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}