No one wants to be the last kid on the block with the latest toy. But the state of Vermont finds itself in that position. With legal sports betting in surrounding jurisdictions, the state is reluctantly taking steps to join the club.
The reasons are the same as other reluctant locales—Vermonters are already betting in the neighboring states, building up their coffers. Maine and Massachusetts took steps this past legislative session to legalize sports betting, New Hampshire and Rhode Island and Connecticut are on board.
Thus, Vermont now has a legislative committee—the General Assembly’s Sports Betting Study Committee—which spent time September 27 hearing from government bureaucrats, a sportsbook operator, and a sports bettor on the subject of retail and online sports betting.
Seems like Vermont officials want some form of legal betting, instead of should-we-or-shouldn’t-we.
“We’ve already said we don’t want to be a prohibitionist market,” committee chair Wendy Knight said during a meeting.
The committee will issue a report before taking concrete steps.
A DraftKings government affairs manager appeared before the committee, As did representatives from the state attorney general’s office and the office of legislative counsel.
“As a player, it would be nice to have the convenience to be able to take advantage of the DraftKings app,” sports bettor John Herko told committee members.
