Legal Sports Betting in Massachusetts Hits a Snag

There have been some very high hopes for sports betting in Massachusetts. Just three months ago, a lawmaker close to the matter made a statement that suggested that sportsbooks would be coming to the state. However, Senator Eric Lesser, the lawmaker in question has recently made a statement that may disappoint lots of bettors.

According to the Senator, the House-backed push for legal sports betting has not been forgotten. He referred to it as a “top tier issue” that is “live and under active conversation and negotiation” in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Now, while those statements do not state that the bill has been forgotten, they are rather ambiguous. The lack of specific timelines or solid updates on the matter may imply that sports betting enthusiasts in the state may have to wait a little longer till regulated sportsbooks become a reality.

Focus On Consumer Protection

The hold-up that may be causing the delay seems to be because of a rather justifiable course. Sports betting and other forms of gambling are lucrative businesses across the world. However, they are often accompanied by some cases of gambling-related harm. That is something that many regulators and authorities are trying to work around as best as they can.

In Massachusetts, the snag that the Senate may have hit involves an emphasis on ensuring that the bill incorporates consumer protection and game integrity. Both issues have been huge problems in other regulated sports betting markets. Those could have been great benchmarks for how Massachusetts intends to approach the sports betting bill.

Already, the bill prohibits any form of credit card gambling. That makes us wonder which other measures may be included in the bill as part of the consumer and integrity protection clauses.

All in all, it is commendable that they are very mindful of those factors. Perhaps that could make the wait worth it for everyone who is eagerly waiting to start legally betting on sports in the state.

The Deal with College Sports

One other thing that seems to be a huge bone of contention in the discussion is how to handle betting on college sports. Sen. Lesser’s version of the bill outrightly bans any form of betting that involves college sports. That is a very strict stance especially considering how big college sports are in the United States.

Even the state’s governor, Charlie Baker initially filed a petition that supported the exclusion of college sports from sports betting in Massachusetts. However, he has since had a change of heart and will now accept moving forward with a framework that caters to betting on college contests.

The change of heart is quite reasonable if history is anything to go by. Already, all the other 31 states with regulated sports betting markets allow bets to be made on some collegiate contests. Even the District of Columbia falls within that bracket. Restricting it would only drive fans of these sports to the other states. That means that Massachusetts will still end up losing out on the valuable tax revenue that the sports betting sector is supposed to bring in.

Nothing has been decided though. For now, all we can do is wait and see how it all turns out. That will probably be in the coming year considering how things are going.