Massachusetts Ready to Roll Out Sports Betting in 2021

In 2020, the slowing down of economic development caused by the pandemic, have disrupted the coming together of sports betting legislation in Massachusetts.

However, this time around, this may change as Senator Brendon Crighton who has been at the forefront of the initiative says that the refined bill will be put forward this year.

Gaining on Others

The pressure is mounting on officials to find the solution for the economic crisis caused by this…

…while all the neighboring states are legalizing sports betting and the state comes into the risk of losing money to them.

Governor Crighton is eager to file the Bill and he also said that there has been great changes to this year’s legislation due to LSR amendments.

The modifications include: a raise in the application fee which has increased to $10 million, revenue generated from sports betting will be taxed at 15% for both the online and retail channels whilst betting of events including collegiate teams in Massachusetts is banned.

Modifications in Plans

The bill is an upgrade on the previous Bill proposed by Gov. Charlie Baker that saw college sports betting banned.

The current Governor’s bill does not guarantee sports betting during 2021, but there should be much less work from an educational stand point. It may imply that some time may be needed to formulate and structure the logistical process.

However, Crighton, the Senate VP of the t Committee on Massachusetts Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, is very confident that proceedings will get underway soon.

The Senator started working on legalizing sports betting in the Bay State right around the time PASPA fell in May 2018. Since then, he’s been in with all stakeholders concerning his legislation and doesn’t see any deal-breakers in this year’s bill.

Additionally, major sports teams have all managed to co-sign a letter addressed to the Economic Development Conference committee to give their backing to the sports betting bill going forward.

Source:

“Massachusetts sports betting bill set for 2021?”, sigma.com.mt, January 13th, 2020.