Sports betting news is constantly surfacing in states where the industry is legal and attempting to become legal. In Missouri, St. Louis Cardinals President Bill DeWitt spoke about the sports betting bill in the state legislature. Recent legislative efforts in Minnesota seem to be losing steam. In Massachusetts, local books have managed to attract bettors from outside the market.
Here we will break down some of the latest sports betting news from around the country.
Bill DeWitt Views Sports Betting Roadblock As ‘Childish’
Cardinals President DeWitt sat down with the Missouri Times and discussed sports betting. During the discussion, DeWitt was asked about his recent meetings with state legislative leaders about the potential sports betting bill.
SB 30 is currently making its way into the Missouri Senate and is now on the informal calendar. Missouri’s sports betting issues have been famously chaotic. The current measure even saw a filibuster involving reading a Ronald Reagan biography. DeWitt believes the entire process has been childish.
“I would describe it as an extremely high level of frustration with not being able to bring this to a vote,” said Bill DeWitt. “We have an issue that is extremely popular with our fans, popular with the politicians, and it’s blocked because others wanna hitch a ride on our wagon, and they have enough clout to bully their way onto the bill. They won’t get what they want, but I guess they don’t care that we don’t get anything either. It is really childish behavior.”
Kansas, which borders Missouri, has already passed and launched sports betting. This is a major motivator for Missouri lawmakers to join the industry. This is a primary reason why DeWitt and other Missouri teams are pushing for a local betting market.
“It is important for the teams to keep pace with what’s happening all around us,” continued DeWitt. “Sports betting is legal in every surrounding state. In Kansas City they go over to Kansas to place bets.
Minnesota Sports Betting Taking A Back Seat
As the Minnesota legislative session continues, sports betting moves further away from being a priority for lawmakers. Instead, the legislature has been focusing on how to spend a $17.5 billion surplus, debating two separate metro-wide sales tax measures, and a potential 10.85% tax rate increase for millionaires.
The legislative session ends on May 22 which still gives several weeks for lawmakers to discuss sports betting. However, it seems that momentum has dwindled for the issue as the session proceeds.
Another stopgap for sports betting legislation is the potential inclusion of sports betting licenses for horse racing tracks and pro teams. This inclusion is not supported by the local tribes, who have stopped sports betting measures in the past.
Professional teams have supported a tribal exclusive sports betting framework. Despite this, some lawmakers are still adamant about including teams and tracks in any legislation. So far it seems that sports betting may struggle to advance this year in Minnesota.
Neighboring Markets Attempt To Wager In Massachusetts
Massachusetts sports betting has been a booming success. After celebrating a strong March with $548.1 million wagered it is revealed by GeoComply that a large number out of state accounts attempted to wager at Massachusetts books.
Since the launch of mobile apps, approximately 187,000 accounts from surrounding markets attempted to access Massachusetts sportsbooks. These accounts led to a total of 1.4 million geolocation transactions being blocked by GeoComply.
This is extremely welcome sports betting news because Massachusetts borders markets that have legal sports betting of their own. Only Vermont and Maine locals have no access to online sports betting options. Vermont saw approximately 3,000 attempts and more than 16,000 transactions between March 10 and April 9. During that same window, approximately 4,400 accounts attempted 27,000 transactions in Maine.
There were also 3,441 bettors who crossed the borders to wager in Massachusetts during that time. GeoComply breaks down the bettors in each state that traveled during that window:
- Rhode Island – 1,761 bettors
- New Hampshire – 1,266 bettors
- Connecticut – 334 bettors
- Vermont – 33 bettors
- Maine – 28 bettors
- New York – 19 bettors
What this shows is that Massachusetts is already becoming a hotbed for online sports betting. The market is poised to continue growing with more sportsbooks on the horizon.
