Sports Betting News

Senate Gives OK For Vermont To Study Legal Sports Betting

On Friday, the Vermont Senate approved to begin a study committee to investigate how the state could tax and regulate sports betting.

Back in January, which now seems like decades ago, Governor Phil Scott introduced the idea legalized sports betting and keno during his budget address. The reactions were mixed among lawmakers in Vermont, and that’s where it stood for a while.

Sure, it would bring a lot of money to the state’s economy, but others are concerned about the ramifications that go along with gambling.

The bill, S59, made it through the second reading in the Senate. After the final vote, it will move to the House, where a key committee chair said it wasn’t a priority before the Legislature recesses by the end of June.

Senator Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden, told other senators that sports betting is already going on in the state of Vermont, but they don’t get any financial rewards. Making it legal would benefit everyone, except the illegal bookies.

“Many of the bets being placed in Vermont now are going to our neighboring states and into other countries, including a lot of sites in Canada,” Sirotkin said, the bill’s main sponsor.

“If we want to move sports betting to a legalized, regulated, and tax approach,” he continued, “we need more information about the real-world track record of this activity and our own analysis of our different ways to structure a tax and regulated system.”

To Sirotkin’s point, the surrounding areas are starting to grow even larger these days. As of now, 22 states either have legalized sports betting or have deals to do so in the coming year. Sirotkin believes Vermont could bring in between $1 and $10 million in tax revenue.

Collegiate Betting?

Considering that Vermont doesn’t have any professional teams in the state, it will be interesting to see how it handles the great debate of whether to allow collegiate sports betting or not.

“What one of the considerations should be is whether or not we would not allow gambling on Vermont college sports,” said Senator Dick Sears, D-Bennington. “And also not allow gambling on any event that involves minors, so it would cover high schools and so forth.”

Sears believes the state needs to comprehend the “reality” of sports betting in today’s current landscape. He is upset that Vermont residents will only be able to bet on horses remotely this summer, as the crowds won’t be there to make any profits for the state.

“I would hope the House doesn’t put it on the wall and wait,” Sears said. “The quicker we get some kind of consensus regarding the study committee and provide some direction, the better off we’ll be.”

All in all, it’s time for smaller states like Vermont to add some type of recreation that would bring in more visitors. Of course, this is a great place for skiing and things of that nature, but legalized sports betting would be a much bigger deal.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *