New England states are enthusiastically jumping aboard the sports betting bonanza—but so far not the Bay State.
The reason is cold feet, or dead feet or sleepy feet in the Senate.
August 10 American Gaming Association (AGA) President and CEO Bill Miller held up for special praise the sports betting and online sectors: “Beyond the pandemic impact, our industry has experienced a transformation,” he said. “The continued expansion of sports betting and growth of online gaming marks a new era for our industry.”
The U.S. gaming industry brought in $13.6 billion nationwide last year and so far commercial gaming has generated almost $25 billion this year.
AGA research director David Forman credits the gaming rebound from the pandemic to sports betting. Sports gaming revenue, he said, is 650 percent higher since the second quarter of 2019 because of states that have gone online. If you combine sports betting and online gaming it makes up 13 percent of the total.
In Massachusetts the House voted in July to legalize sports betting. It was the second time it has done so. But the Senate leadership hasn’t picked up the torch to carry it forward.
While the legislature is in recess the Senate President Karen Spilka took the opportunity to tell reporters, “This will be something clearly that will be up for discussion in the Senate in the fall when we’re there.” Which doesn’t sound particularly decisive.
