Legal Status
Sports betting is not legal in the state of Massachusetts.
Legislative Progress
There have been several efforts made to get sports betting legalized ever since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA. Several bills were introduced in 2019 by Governor Charlie Baker and several other legislators, so the effort and interest were there. But that effort and interest were part of the problem.
Because of that, a logjam got created in the committee tasked with reviewing them, and nothing ended up happening in 2019.
Things looked promising in 2020; the House got behind an economic development bill, H 4887, that would have legalized retail and mobile/online sports betting. But the Senate refused to consider the sports betting aspect of the bill.
Governor Baker introduced a bill early in the 2021 legislative session, HD 678. Baker called for online betting to get legalized but with a ban on college sports and e-sports. By March, there were over a dozen pieces of sports betting-related legislation in play.
But when it came time to talk about the budget in April, it was not looking like sports betting would be part of it. However, things began to look promising when legislators tried to get a couple of amendments included in the budget that would have done the trick. But neither one made it into the final cut.
So, it looks like Massachusetts will have to try again in 2022.
Casino Participation
Massachusetts has three casinos that may or may not be involved with sports betting when it finally does become legal. But since retail sports betting will likely get included once a bill passes, it is probably safe to assume casinos will be involved somehow.
Role of the Lottery
Massachusetts does have a lottery, and it has been included in several of the proposed sports betting bills. But it remains to be seen if the lottery will indeed be involved once sports betting is approved and launches.
Professional Sports Team Involvement
The five professional sports teams in Massachusetts (Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, New England Patriots and New England Revolution) along with PGA Tour, FanDuel, DraftKings and MGM Springfield sent a letter to lawmakers in 2020 asking them to come to an agreement regarding sports betting.
Licensing
Licensing requirements have been all over the board in the many sports betting bills introduced in Massachusetts in recent years. Some have had licensing fees in the $500,000 range and as high as $10 million. Tax structures have been all over the place.
But until a bill gets passed, there is no telling what the licensing requirements will be.
Expected Live Date
There is no sense in projecting a launch date for sports betting in Massachusetts until a bill gets passed. But since the issue in 2021 was more that lawmakers wanted approval to come from stand-alone legislation, there is reason to have hope 2022 could be the year.
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