Sen. John Keenan has filed a bill proposing wholesale alterations to the Massachusetts Sports Wagering Act.
The proposal, SD 1657, titled “An Act addressing economic, health, and social harms caused by sports betting,” outlines stringent measures that could pose significant challenges to the MA sports betting industry.
Key Proposals of the Bill:
- Banning in-play and proposition bets
- Prohibiting advertisements during live sporting events
- Increasing the online sports betting tax rate from 20% to 51%
- Implementing affordability checks for players wagering over $1,000 daily or $10,000 monthly. Players exceeding these thresholds would undergo affordability reviews, with monthly wagering capped at 15% of their bank account balance.
- Restricting compensation structures by barring operators, directors, officers, owners, employees, affiliates, and subcontractors from receiving compensation tied to a percentage of wagers or deposits.
Additionally, the bill seeks to amend Section 15 of the Act, raising the annual licensing fee for online betting operators to $2 million. All revenue collected from this increase would go directly to the Public Health Trust Fund.
The legislation also proposes reclassifying promotions like same-game parlays, bonuses, odds boosts, reload bonuses, and risk-free promotions as “unfair and deceptive practices.”
Massachusetts: A Stringent Regulatory Environment
Massachusetts already enforces some of the strictest regulations in the U.S. sports betting market. Current rules prohibit betting on in-state collegiate sports, forbid credit card deposits, and disallow sportsbooks from deducting promotional credits from taxable income.
Despite these restrictions, sports wagering in the Bay State has shown robust growth. According to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, tax receipts from sports betting reached a record $16.1 million in November 2024, marking a 65.31% year-over-year increase from $9.7 million. Notably, online operators contributed 99.2% of the total, amounting to $15.9 million.
Revisiting the Push for a 51% Tax Rate
Senator Keenan’s latest effort follows a similar attempt in May 2024, when he made the news filing Amendment 828 to raise the state’s sports betting tax rate to 51%. The amendment was ultimately dismissed during a Senate debate.
Senator Keenan has been vocal about his opposition to online wagering, and the newly proposed tax rate would place Massachusetts among the states with the highest tax rates in the country. Currently, New York, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island also enforce a 51% tax rate on sports betting. However, exceptions in New Hampshire’s legislation result in a lower effective tax rate for its sole online operator, DraftKings.
While the previous amendment emphasized revenue generation for the state, this new proposal highlights broader concerns, including the economic, social, and health impacts of sports betting.
