Five Sports Betting Sites Bid for Vermont Access

The five are: BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, and Penn Sports Interactive.

A handful of sports betting sites have thrown their hats in the ring to offer mobile wagering in Vermont.

The Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services published a document on Monday outlining the bidders thus far to offer legal sports betting in the Green Mountain State.

Five bidders are on the list: BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, and Penn Sports Interactive, the owner of Barstool Sportsbook and the coming ESPN Bet.

The right range

The bids are in response to a request for proposals (RFP) published this summer seeking interested parties for Vermont sports betting, as the state will have a unique system of mobile-only wagering. The number of bidders is also exactly in line with the two to six online sportsbooks Vermont lawmakers envisioned with the sports betting law they passed earlier this year.

“This legislation empowers the [liquor and lottery] Commissioner to negotiate and contract a minimum of two but not more than six operators to operate a sportsbook in Vermont through a mobile sports wagering platform,” the RFP said. “If the competitive bidding process fails to produce a sufficient number of qualified bidders, the [Department of Liquor and Lottery] may decline to authorize any operators or authorize a single operator to conduct a sportsbook.”

The bidding is another step toward the launch of sports betting in Vermont, which is surrounded by other states that have already taken that step or, in the case of Maine, are in the process of doing so. Vermont has no preexisting gambling infrastructure there, so mobile sportsbook operators will carry a lot of the load, especially with no opportunities yet for retail facilities. 

Vermont’s RFP was issued on July 19 and proposed a three-year contract with the state plus the option for two one-year renewals. The amount of revenue operators must share with the state will be at least 20% of their receipts. 

The RFP also suggested that wagering won’t begin in Vermont until January at the earliest, which would cause bettors to miss out on the bulk of the NFL’s regular season.

“The State anticipates the start date for such contract(s) will be January 1, 2024,” the RFP said.