The legislation would allow for wagering on both professional and collegiate sports in the Bay State, according to Speaker Mariano's tweet. Betting would be allowed on out-of-state college and universities only, unless a Massachusetts college or university is participating in a national tournament such as college basketball's NCAA Tournament.
The legislation also would institute a 15 percent tax on in-person betting and a 20 percent tax on mobile betting.
How does this affect you?
It means I’ll place some bets on the Celtics and other NBA teams this year, particularly over-under win totals, which is where some very obvious money has been available since I’ve started paying attention. I doubt I’ll place bets on individual games ever, but I probably will on some playoff series.
Disappointed that March Madness is excluded, although I’ve watched less college basketball than usual the last year, so maybe it isn’t as big a deal as it could have been.
EDIT: Maybe I’m misreading, and a March Madness exception was made? Not sure. Maybe I’ll get back into the NFL as well, but probably not. If sports betting had been available 5 or so years ago the NFL might have been able to keep me, however.