Montana State Sports Betting & Licensing Update
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Montana Licenses Update
The Montana State House and Senate legalized sports betting back in 2019, and the kinks are still being ironed out. While betting is live, licenses have been rather limited. The Montana Lottery is in charge of the regulations and licensing for the State’s new sports wagering initiative. For one reason or another, the Montana Lottery was pushing for licenses only to those establishments that sell alcohol. This could be a way to more easily assure that only residents of age are betting on sports; however, it still seemed like an odd decision.
This decision was brought to court after a Montana-based attorney decided to challenge the law. The attorney argued that it would be against the initial intent of the bill passed by the State to bar places that do not have alcoholic licenses from getting sports betting licenses. The court overwhelmingly sided with the attorney. The court claimed that if the State Legislatures intended to stop these businesses from achieving sports betting licenses, then they would have written as so into the bill.
News has recently come out that the Montana Lottery has no interest in appealing the ruling or challenging that decision. The Lottery does not see this as a major setback since it was a small change into the very expansive rule set that is earning state lottery licenses. One thing to note is that in Montana, a major part of the sports betting requirements is that lottery sales, i.e., sports betting, cannot be the main source of income. Businesses or firms must be in another market and can then add sports wagering on the side.
Montana Sports Betting
Montana had its first wagering go live in March of 2020. Montana went the route set by other similarly small states like New Hampshire and decided on a monopoly for its sports gambling. The Montana Lottery runs and operates the entire sports betting operation. You can bet at kiosks and online. However, there is no real mobile or online gambling in the State. This is because you have to be physically at a business that is licensed for sports gambling to bet online.
Montana has not seen the success as the aforementioned New Hampshire, and that might be due to the strict regulations and limitations on online gambling that the State has. Not only has there been an emphasis on online betting due to the pandemic, but online gambling is the future. Most residents want to be able to bet while watching the game at home; that is simply how the majority of us enjoy sports in 2020. The fact that one cannot pick up the phone and place a bet hinders the potential sports betting handle.
The argument may be that it is to protect residents from over-betting. However, the fact that the Lottery was trying to limit gambling to only places where alcohol is served, allowing bettors to place wagers intoxicated and in unideal situations, makes this argument completely invalid. Montana has a long way to go for optimizing its sports betting, and the current system has a somewhat decent base, but it needs more work.
