sports betting legislation – FairOdds Network

August 1, 2024

Nebraska lawmakers seem unprepared to consider digital wagering; it’s not clear they must

A Nebraska legislative committee late on Wednesday (31 July) heard testimony on five bills about an expansion of gaming in the state. Committee members appeared uneducated on the subject, which may already be legal.
In 2020, Nebraska voters approved an expansion of gaming when they passed an initiative that made “games of chance” legal. At the time, there was some question as to whether or not a game of chance includes sports betting. But the legislature later determined it does. That fact begs the question as to why the legislature feels it needs to pass laws that would make digital sports betting legal.

In 2022, Nebraska’s Racing and Gaming Commission declined to include language about digital betting in its regulations. Stakeholders asked the commission to include such language. The current law defines a gaming device as any “electronic, mechanical or other device which plays a game of chance when activated by a player”. It goes on to explain that sports wagers may be placed on “..

July 31, 2024

Bill to repeal US gambling excise tax filed

On Wednesday (31 July) a pair of US senators filed a bill calling for the repeal of the US federal excise tax on gambling. The 0.25% excise tax on the amount of any legal wager is levied above and beyond state taxes.
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi) filed the bill. Called the “Withdrawing Arduous Gaming Excise Rates Act,” the acronym is “the WAGER Act.” The American Gaming Association (AGA), a trade group, almost immediately came out in favour of the bill. The legislation, the AGA said, would save operators tens of millions of dollars per year in taxes.

“The federal sports betting excise tax was enacted more than 70 years ago as a tool to prosecute illegal sports betting operators,” the AGA wrote in a statement. “Today, with sports betting legal in 38 states and Washington DC, this antiquated tax puts legal operators at a competitive disadvantage and rewards illegal offshore bookmakers that pay no federal or state taxes, offer no responsible..

July 30, 2024

Nebraska lawmakers could be first in US in 2024 to legalise or expand gambling

Nearly seven months into the year, no US jurisdiction has legalised or expanded gambling. Will Nebraska be the first?
Nebraska’s state legislature started a special session last week and, on Wednesday (30 July), the general affairs committee will debate five bills that could legalise digital sports betting and daily fantasy sports.

At the heart of the move to legalise digital sports betting is Nebraska’s high property taxes, which fund education. According to one of the bills, the state ranks among the top 10 in the US in “property tax burden” and “relies more heavily on local property taxes to support public education” than other states. The goal is reduce property taxes by using online sports betting revenue to defray the costs to homeowners.

Nebraskans approved an expansion of gaming in November 2020. At that time, it wasn’t clear whether or not that expansion included sports betting – retail or digital. But lawmakers eventually decided that in-person wagering met the criteria. ..

June 25, 2024

DC Council creates open, competitive wagering marketplace

On Tuesday (25 June) the DC Council gave final approval to its FY2025 budget that includes a provision to open the digital sports betting market. Currently, FanDuel is the sole platform available citywide but, under the new budget, that will change.

The new budget required an emergency act to avoid having to send the budget to congress for approval. The DC Council passed the Budget Support Act via voice vote. The budget is set to go into effect on 15 July.

The new budget will allow for commercial operators to enter the market. BetMGM (Nationals Park) and Caesars Sportsbook (Capital One Arena) should quickly be able to expand their current digital offerings. Through existing partnerships, the operators have brick-and-mortar sportsbooks and offer digital betting within an exclusion zone. Under the new plan, they will be able to offer their platforms across the District.

FanDuel in April launched its platform in partnership with the DC Lottery. The company currently has a monopoly. ..

March 19, 2024

Don’t expect Georgia lawmakers to legalise sports betting in 2024

Will a constitutional amendment that would send the decision to legalise sports betting to the voters get out of the Georgia house?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: The state doesn’t need the money and lawmakers are nowhere near a consensus.

During a hearing in the House Higher Education Committee on SR 579 late on the afternoon of 18 March, there was fire and brimstone, a reference to heroin and plenty of misinformation. Multiple lawmakers also noted that the state has a $16bn budget surplus and isn’t in a hurry for new revenue streams.

And at least one lawmaker thinks that New York is part of New England. For those in need of a geography lesson, the six New England states are Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Time running short and compromise isn’t happening

The bill is one of several that could legalise sports betting in a state that has been trying to craft a framework for a mobile market for four years, but where lawmakers have been ..

March 14, 2024

Minnesota senate tax committee doubles wagering tax, moves bill forward

Minnesota’s senate tax committee has voted to double the proposed tax rate from 10% to 20% in a bill that would allow for legal statewide mobile sports betting.

The bill, SF1,949, has been through six senate committees, and is now on its way to senate finance. Should it pass out of the senate, the bill would follow a similar process in the house.

Minnesota’s legislature is set to adjourn on 20 May and there is no crossover deadline. Lawmakers have travelled this path before, passing similar legislation in the house in previous sessions, only to have it stall in the senate. A key issue is whether to give the state’s 11 tribes exclusivity for sports betting or include horse tracks. The current senate version of the bill does include the tracks, which the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association opposes. That issue was not raised in the tax committee, but is likely to come again in the future.

Governor Tim Walz has said previously that he will approve a legal sports betting bill.

Senator..

March 12, 2024

Georgia Senate sports betting bill gets first look in house

A statewide mobile sports betting bill got its first hearing in the Georgia house on Tuesday (12 March).

With just over two weeks remaining in the legislative session, and more than five weeks since the senate passed SB386, a statewide mobile sports betting bill got its first hearing in the Georgia house Tuesday.

There was no vote in the house’s Higher Education Committee, and there could be more discussion later this week, although the committee chairman said a vote is not imminent.

Several representatives from daily fantasy companies testified that they’d like their contests added to the bill while multiple representatives from faith-based and anti-gambling groups testified in opposition.

The bill would allow for 16 online sports betting licences, including eight that would be tethered to professional sports franchises or organisations in the state.

A further seven free-standing licences would be up for grabs with one licence earmarked for the Georgia Lottery, which would als..

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Tag: sports betting legislation