State House Lawmakers Approve Sports Betting, Send Measure to Senate

BOSTON — For the second time in two years, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to legalize sports betting. Though the vote was 156-3, the bill’s prospects remain unclear in the Senate, where the last attempt to pass a sports-betting law died.

The Boston Herald reported that sports betting brought in $960 million in the first quarter of 2021, according to a state Gaming Commission report. Thirty states — including Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York — have all legalized sports wagering in some form.

Licensing fees for the three casinos, two racetracks, and up to nine mobile-app operators described in the bill would generate as much as $80 million for the state to begin with, and again upon their renewal every five years, the Herald added, while the state could bring in another $60 million to $70 million in tax revenue annually.

Betting would be regulated by the state Gaming Commission. In-person bets at casino and track retailers would be taxed at 12.5%, with mobile bets costing slightly more at 15%.