State’s new bill has unique rules
Massachusetts deserves a participation trophy at best when it comes to how quickly it was able to pass sports betting legislation.
But this is no time to whine about the four-year, 75-day wait it took from getting the green light from the US Supreme Court to study, debate, and finally place a bill on Governor Charlie Baker’s desk — a span during which 33 other states, including five neighboring states, passed its own bills.
A better use of the wait of several months before sports betting gets on its feet here is to see how Massachusetts’ bill compares with nearby states.
Massachusetts
Passed legislation: August 2022.
Notes
■ Retail operators pay 15 percent tax; online at 20 percent.
■ 21-year-old age minimum.
■ No bets taken on in-state college games and in-state teams when playing out of state (exceptions for tournament play).
■ Up to nine online licenses will be issued.
■ Only retail sportsbooks allowed at state’s three casinos.
Rhode Island
Passed legislation: June 2018 (retail); March 2019 (online).
Operational: November 2018 (retail); September 2019 (online).
Total dollars wagered: $1.2 billion.
Total tax revenues collected: $52 million.
Notes
■ Rhode Island was the eighth state to start sports betting, confining it to the state’s two casinos before expanding to mobile betting. Its version bears little resemblance to what’s coming to Massachusetts. For example, an 18-year-old can place a sports bet if the teenager is standing within the state’s borders.
■ Rhode Island has more exclusions than Massachusetts when it comes to what can and what cannot be bet on. Any sporting event, not just collegiate games, taking place in the state cannot be bet on, and bets will not be taken when a Rhode Island college team plays out of state.
■ Rhode Island prohibits betting on its own college sports teams anywhere. Unlike Massachusetts, Rhode Island does not make an exception to that ban if the Rhode Island team is playing in a tournament.
■ The state lottery operates the state’s one and only online betting operation.
■ A stiff 51 percent tax is collected on betting revenues.
New Hampshire
Passed legislation: July 2019.
Operational: January 2020.
Total dollars wagered: $1.5 billion.
Total tax revenues collected: $44.2 million.
Notes
■ Bettors also have to be only 18 years old in the Granite State. Although the state authorized up to five online operators, to date the state has just one: Boston-based DraftKings.
■ Retail operations are limited to 10 total, but to date there are only three in operation, with a DraftKings presence in each of them.
■ The lottery runs the sports betting operation in New Hampshire, and DraftKings is taxed at a 51 percent clip. That rate will drop considerably if other online operators are granted licenses, but for now DraftKings has exclusivity.
■ New Hampshire has a ban on betting on in-state college teams, no matter where and when they play.
New York
Passed legislation: November 2013 (retail); April 2021 (online).
Operational: July 2019 (retail); January 2022 (online).
Total dollars wagered: $9 billion.
Total tax revenues collected: $311.3 million.
Notes
■ New York passed sports betting legislation five years before the US Supreme Court ruling, but its implementation has been slow. However, it’s on the verge of becoming real big.
■ Retail sports betting is thus far confined to upstate casinos far from New York City, but competition has begun to land a casino for one of the city’s five boroughs.
■ The legislature passed online betting two springs ago. It finally launched this January – at a 51 percent tax rate for each of the nine operators – and it’s been boffo box office: In the first five months, $267 million in sports betting tax revenues were collected, more than the sports betting total of any other state since 2018.
■ Sports bettors have to be at least 21 years old.
■ No bets are taken on games played anywhere by a New York college’s sports team.
Connecticut
Passed legislation: May 2021.
Operational: September 2021 (retail); October 2021 (online).
Total dollars wagered: $1.1 billion.
Total tax revenues collected: $7.3 million.
Notes
■ There are three online operators up and running in the state, with two of them — DraftKings and FanDuel — having their own sportsbooks at the state’s two tribal casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, respectively.
■ There are 12 retail outlets, including two in ex-Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine’s restaurants, with three more licenses to be granted.
■ The relatively low tax revenues collected reflect the low tax rate: 13.75 percent.
■ Bettors must be over the age of 21.
■ Bets cannot be taken on college games played by Connecticut schools, but like Massachusetts, there’s an exception for tournament play.
Maine
Passed legislation: May 2022.
Operational: Next year or 2024.
Notes
■ Despite its sports betting bill being passed into law, regulators will take their time to get it up and running. Assuming no changes, the current bill allows for three online licenses, each tethered to a Native American tribe, and 10 retail locations.
■ The tax rate will be set at 10 percent, and bettors have to be at least 21 years old.
■ No bets can be placed on games involving Maine colleges.
Vermont
Notes
A mobile-only sports betting bill was filed last year, but it did not move out of committee.