Online Sports Betting in Vermont Will Start in January

Vermonters will be able to legally bet on sports using three platforms starting on January 11.

The state has signed six-year contracts with DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook to offer mobile betting. Two others — BetMGM and Penn Sports Interactive (ESPN BET) — responded to the state's request for proposal

but were rejected, according to Wendy Knight, commissioner of the Department of Liquor and Lottery.

Beginning Tuesday, the betting operators can preregister Vermonters who want to set up accounts before the January launch date.

In June, Gov. Phil Scott signed a legal-betting bill into law. It authorizes Knight's department to contract with between two and six online betting operators. Each company is required to pay the state a $550,000 licensing fee every three years and at least 20 percent of its gross wagering revenue annually. During the bidding process, according to Knight, the state negotiated revenue-sharing agreements of 31 percent to 33 percent. The state expects to raise as much as $7 million in the first year. Vermonters must be 21 or older to play.“I first proposed Vermont legalize sports wagering several years ago, and it’s good to see it come to fruition,” Gov. Scott said in a press release on Tuesday. He noted that the law includes provisions intended to prevent people from developing gambling problems, such as daily and weekly wagering limits and a prohibition on the use of credit cards. The law also requires the state to spend an additional $250,000 each year on a new program run by the state Department of Mental Health.The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited sports gambling in 2018, paving the way for states to offer legal wagers on sports. In the years since, many have. Mobile sports betting started in Maine in November, making Vermont the last New England state to contract with operators.The discussion in Montpelier started a few years ago. DraftKings, one of the industry's largest online gaming platforms, hired Montpelier-based lobbying firm MMR in 2020 to represent it at the Statehouse. In 2021, the company joined forces with two other large online sportsbooks, FanDuel and BetMGM, to lobby Vermont lawmakers. A nine-member legislative study committee investigated sports betting last fall. Supporters of the measure argued that Vermonters already bet online in a black market, exposing them to a risk of fraud and diverting revenues that could be going into state coffers. Even with three sports betting contractors authorized to do business in the state, some Vermonters will still have to travel out of state to place bets on certain sports.

"We don't allow bets on horse racing based on some of the conversations we took away from the legislative process," Knight told Seven Days on Tuesday, declining to elaborate. She added that the decision to add additional operators lies with her department, "so that could change at a later time."

According to a November report from the American Gaming Association, just 12 states don't offer legal online sports betting and have no pending legislation to allow it.