BOSTON — State Sen. Brendan Crighton’s proposal allowing sports wagering in licensing gaming establishments advanced favorably Friday out of a legislative committee.
Adults in Massachusetts would be able to bet on professional and Division I college sports in person and through web or mobile apps under the legislation. Crighton called legislative action on his bill a positive step to making sports betting legal in Massachusetts.
“We have a market thriving illegally. Why don’t we regulate wagers and protect consumers? There’s an opportunity to bring people out of the shadows,” Crighton said in an interview earlier this month.
The legislation’s description provided by his office states the bill ” … allows establishments licensed to offer gaming, wagering or betting, and racing license holders, to offer sports wagering in person at their licensed facility or over the internet through interactive sports wagering platforms to persons physically located in this state.”
Under Crighton’s legislation, sports wagering would be regulated by the state Gaming Commission with several license categories, ranging from a proposed Category 1 permitting a license holder to operate a sports pool at a casino with “three online sports pools or can authorize 3 vendors to operate a sports pool on its behalf.”
Slot parlors could hold Category S2 licenses and have two online sports pools or can authorize two vendors to operate a sports pool on its behalf. Live horse racing tracks could also hold a license under the legislation and “Category SM” licenses would allow up to five licensees to operate an Online Sports Pool in which wagers can be made over the internet through computers, mobile applications or mobile devices.
Casinos would pay an initial $500,000 application fee and wagering revenue would be deposited into the Gaming Revenue Fund with 5 percent going to a Collegiate Health, Wellness, and Education Fund.
Crighton’s bill would not allow betting on any amateur sports, and all athletic events where participants are 18 or under; betting on the Olympics, eSports or Fantasy Contests.
Betting minimum age is set at 21 years and older in the legislation and debit cards, but not credit cards, could be used to make wagers.
Crighton said sports wagering is popular among younger Massachusetts adults and he noted the Supreme Court decision last May leaving the question of sports betting legality with the states.
“Most people my age want it. I think the bill we filed was not done on a whim. We talked to a variety of stakeholders,” Crighton said.
The next stop for the bill is probably the Legislature’s main spending review committee — House Ways and Means.