Legal Sports Betting Committee Releases Findings in Vermont

• The Sports Betting Study Committee has released a rough draft of their suggestions that will be made to Vermont legislators later this week.
• Of the six recommendations, two stand out as unique findings that may cause debate when discussed on Thursday.

MONTPELIER, Vt. – The first draft by Vermont’s Sports Betting Study Committee has been completed before the December 15 deadline set by lawmakers.

The Committee, which was established to research and then suggest the proper ways for the Green Mountain State to legislators, has been working on their proposals since the news broke in September that sports betting in Vermont was under consideration.

When the Committee was established, legislators had given them six key components to focus their research on.

Recommendations by the Study Committee

The Committee has specifically outlined six recommendations in their drafted report to the General Assembly.

Four of the recommendations were fairly commonplace:

• Launch a Vermont-sanctioned online sports betting market
• The VT Department of Liquor and Lottery should preside over the market
• Sports betting administrators must have sufficient power to adjust to an ever-changing market
• A comprehensive plan for problem gamblers including education and assistance must be established

The Committee’s other two suggestions were relatively unique for a state looking to establish legal sports betting.

• Sports betting should be launched online and on mobile devices, specifically excluding in-person sportsbooks until a later time
• Establish a tax rate via a bidding process among the prospective online sports betting operators

Those two recommendations stand out for different reasons:

• Online only sports betting: With the vast majority of bets placed online in most regulated sports betting even when in-person sportsbooks are available, it may be logical that Committee members want to launch legal sports betting in Vermont strictly online. Most states begin with in-person retail sportsbooks and then eventually add online sports betting later on down the line so this process has been reversed. That is indicated by the fact that 22 states have regulated online sports betting while there are 29 with retail sportsbooks.
  
• Bidding on tax rates: The Committee suggested that instead of attempting to find a tax rate that would entice operators to enter the state (i.e a low tax rate) while also ensuring a worthwhile tax revenue on sports betting for the Vermont government that legislators set a limit on how many operators they would allow and then have sports betting companies bid on how much they would be willing to pay in taxes. By setting a cap on the number of operators, the Committee is attempting to create a supply and demand scenario where the sports betting operators bid up on the amount of taxes they are willing to pay to ensure a spot in the state. The sports betting operators that are willing to pay the most in taxes would then be given priority when deciding on which operators would take up the specified number of sportsbook licenses in the state.

Legislators in Vermont will be meeting on Thursday, December 15 to discuss each of the recommendations made by the Sports Betting Study Committee.

News tags: Vermont