The Montana Senate joined the House last week in approving two bills, SB 330 and HB 725, that legalize sports betting in the state, although under two different authorities: the attorney general and the state lottery.
Montana thus becomes the first state this year to approve of a sports betting bill. Or maybe that’s the first AND second state to do so.
Both bills, which had bipartisan support, await the signature of Governor Steve Bullock, who could choose to sign on or both bills. He has ten days to make a decision.
Originally there were three separate bills that seemed to have wide support, but the bill that would have allowed pari-mutuel sports betting died in the Senate.
SB 330 puts sports betting under the attorney general and HB 725 puts it under the lottery. The two sponsors, Senate president Mark Blasdel and Rep. Ryan Lynch, helped each other shepherd their bills through committee.
Blasdel told SportsHandle, “It was a lot of work. It’s tough because we’re a pretty limited gambling state, and there’s been a pretty major push this session with a lot of gambling bills, so I think there has been some fatigue by the end of the session.”
Blasdel is worried that the governor might only sign the lottery-sports betting bill, although he has given him data to show that the state would benefit by having two options.
He told Legal Sports Report, “We’re trying to get the governor to understand there’s opportunity for all of them here, and that will ultimately be better for the sports bettor and the state,.”
Under both bills, there would be some mobile betting as well as at kiosks that could be placed in taverns. They could host kiosks from one or both the attorney general or lottery run sports books. Montana law folds gambling into liquor licenses, so the thousand or so bars, restaurants and taverns deploy video gaming terminals offering slots, video poker, keno and the lottery.
Blasdel’s bill allows different companies to have different providers.
“The conversation I’ve always had with Mark Blasdel, is that they lottery is saying they have the best product, and the vendors say they have the best,” said Rep. Lynch. “So it will be interesting to see what happens.”
Blasdel said, “Myself and the sponsor of this bill spoke about these bills before and we agreed that we think both should go forward. I think competition creates opportunity as far as what products are out there, but it’s also better to keep it on an even playing field for the bettors and the taverns to have choices.”
He added, “A sports bettor is a different type of gambler. They look at the odds, and if the odds are not realistic then they’ll search for other avenues to place their bets. The reality is there’s so much already happening on the black market, and if they don’t come into the light they’ll stay doing what they’re doing.”
Mobile bets could be taken as long as the platform is within range of a kiosk.
Blasdel’s bill would authorize sports betting by June 2020, giving the attorney general time to play catch-up with the lottery, which says it already has regulations in place to allow it to offer the wagering within six months. It plans to employ Intralot, which it already has a contract with, to run sports book.
Blasdel says several companies have said they were interested in running sports book in the state, among them William Hill and MGM.
