Montana Lottery Reviews Draft Rules for Sports Wagering

As sports betting fever rages throughout the United States of America, another state decides to step up the game by releasing draft sports wagering regulations for public comment.

Almost eight months after the introduction of its legislation, Montana has finally published the draft rules that would allow online and in-person sports betting and put them under a 30-day consultation period.

The Montana Sports Betting Act was signed by governor Steve Bullock in May and it would task the department of justice with “developing regulations for licensing operators and associated gambling businesses.”

All documents are available in the Montana istrative since they’re required under the state’s procedure act, which defends the public’s right to partake in government policy making-process.

Public Hearing on October 28th

Since the law requires a minimum of 30 days for the rules to be available to the public, an open hearing about the recently published draft rules will take place on October 28th, 2019 at 10AM at the Montana Lottery head office, 2525 North Montana Avenue, Helena, MT.

Lottery director, Angela Wong said:

“The sports wagering law ed in May and we’ve been working hard ever since to build something Montanans will be excited about. We’ve got a lot to share with Montanans, but the first step is making sure their voices are heard as we move forward.”

Sports betting in Montana was officially legalized by the Montana Legislature in 2019. The authorization of sports wagering, House Bill No. 725, was introduced by R. Lynch, M. Hopkins and M. Blasdel, and it will set a tax rate of 8.5% of receipts along with a permit fee of $1,000.

Record Breaking Sales

In another report, the Montana Lottery has had a record-breaking year in sales, paying out colossal amounts in commissions to small businesses. The agency ended 2018-2019 fiscal year earning $60.2 million in revenues, showing a steady growth of 6.7 per cent.

Wong commented:

“The Montana Lottery is a Montana-only business. Everything we do – from the design of our Scratch tickets to the commissions we pay – begins and ends in the state we love. This year shows that the efficiencies and fun we’ve incorporated into the products we sell are paying off.”

More than 1,000 businesses across the state’s territory who sell lottery commercial products including tickets, books, software and memorabilia earned all-time high $3.6 million which represents a surge of 12.5 per cent in comparison with the last year.

Since 1986, which is the birth date of Lottery in Montana, the agency has cashed out more than $590 million in prizes and refunded the state’s budget with more than $259 million.

Between September 19th to 26th, the Montana Lottery has awarded $40,000 in prizes.

Source:

“Sports Wagering Draft Rules Available for Public Comment”, montanarealmoneyaction.betsandodds.net, October 4, 2019.