- June 18, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
SPRINGFIELD — Travelers to Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville already pass billboards touting sports betting across the state line in Rhode Island, and Connecticut passed sports betting legislation three weeks ago.
More competition is coming not only for casinos like Plainridge and MGM Springfield, but also for bars and restaurants, state Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, testified Thursday before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
The committee, chaired on the Senate side by Sen. Eric P Lesser, D-Longmeadow, is considering 19 sports betting bills, and held hours of hearings on them Thursday.
All the bills would legalize sports betting in Massachusetts, a move expected to bring the state $50 million to $70 million a year in revenue. A vote on a final bill is hoped for at some point this year.
When lawmakers debated the idea of sports betting a year ago, there were nine states that had allowed it. Today,…
