The joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies in Massachusetts has begun hearings on legalizing sports betting. Lawmakers will look at nine bills, including one introduced at the beginning of 2019 by Governor Charlie Baker that he claims could bring the state $35 billion annually in taxes.
At the time Baker said, “Expanding Massachusetts’ developing gaming industry to include wagering on professional sports is an opportunity for Massachusetts to invest in local aid while remaining competitive with many other states pursuing similar regulations.”
The state legalized casino gaming in 2011, which has resulted in one slots parlor, one casino resort in Springfield and another about to open near Boston. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the federal ban on sports betting, which has provided the impetus for several states to legalize it.
The first in the region to do so was Rhode Island, whose first sports book took wagers the day after Thanksgiving last year. The Bay State’s pace has been more stately, and so it may avoid some of the pitfalls that its neighbor fell into, such as overestimating (by a lot) how much it might collect from sports book.
Baker’s proposal would allow sports book at the existing state casinos and online, putting the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in charge of license online and brick and mortar operators. Daily Fantasy Sports operators, such as the homegrown DraftKings, would also be licensed to offer it. Applicants would pay a licensing fee of $500,000. The state would tax casino sports bets at 10 percent and online bets at 12.5 percent.
Fantasy Sports Contests, which the legislature allowed two years ago, would also be subject to the 12.5 percent tax.
Wagers would not be allowed on high school, college or amateur sports, or on esports.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo has taken a go-slow approach. Early this year he assigned a special committee to study the possible effects of allowing bets on sporting activities.
The Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling would like lawmakers to move even slower. And to set aside dedicated funding for the treatment of addiction. It also wants the state to allow for self-exclusion programs and for venues that office sports book to prominently advertise online help numbers.
During the hearings legislators have heard from casinos executives, professional sports leagues and sports betting experts. It also heard from DraftKings, a company born in Boston, which testified that it should be allowed to offer sports betting using a mobile app.
The Bay State’s three casinos, MGM Springfield, Encore Boston Harbor and Plainridge Park asked that the state require operators like DraftKings to partner with one of them. They argued that the industry is already heavily regulated, which will benefit consumers.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robbins disagrees. He told lawmakers, “DraftKings and our competitors should have a direct relationship with the regulator, and that means being directly accountable to the regulatory authority, the legislature, and ultimately, the residents of Massachusetts.”
Representatives from Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association made the same pitch they have made in other states that they should be paid what some have dubbed an “integrity fee” of 0.25 percent to ensure the integrity of the games.
The casinos are calling for very low taxes on the activity.
