Three States Just Advanced Bills To Regulate Sports Betting

• A bill in Maine could legalize tribal sports betting and is supported by Governor Mills.
• Missouri lawmakers are hoping to see legal sports betting in their state by August 2022.
• A Minnesota bill is in its early deliberations, but brings with it the possibility of 2022 sports betting.

LAS VEGAS – The United States legal sports betting market has seen some major movement towards expansion so far this year, with multiple states pushing bills forward to regulate their markets.

Maine

A bill in Maine is making waves, and already has the support of Governor Janet Mills. LD 585 is a tribal relations bill meant to regulate Maine’s sports betting market, and improve the communication between Maine’s tribal population and government.

LD 585 would offer up to four sports betting licenses meant for tribal sportsbook operators, and two licenses for potential race track betting.

So far, the bill is doing well, but there is another bill in the form of LD 1352 that would allow commercial operators to offer sports betting as well. This bill has not been vocally supported by Governor Mills and seems like more of a long-shot than LD 585

Missouri

A Missouri bill titled HB 2502 recently passed in the Missouri House of Representatives following a 115-33 vote, and is now on its way to the Senate Floor.

While previously proposing a 10% tax rate, the bill was amended to lower the tax rate to 8%.

If signed into law, HB 2502 would offer the 13 local casinos access to launch their own sportsbooks.

Lawmakers are hoping to have their own regulated Missouri sports betting market launched by August of this year.

Minnesota

Lastly, HF 778 made its way through the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committe this week, and is headed for the Tax Committee.

With HF 778 would come a regulated Minnesota sports betting market by way of local tribal sportsbooks at their casinos, and statewide mobile betting via commercial operators.

There hasn’t been a date set for the Tax Committee to discuss the bill, but if they approve it, Minnesota will be one step closer to having its own legal sports betting market.

News tags: Governor Janet Mills | HF 778 | LD 1352 | LD 585 | Maine | Minnesota | Missouri