Last updated: November 30, 2023
Vermont’s newly passed sports betting bill, signed by Governor Phil Scott in June, has sparked interest from several sportsbook operators eager to secure online betting licenses in the state.
The sports betting legislation for Vermont, known as House Bill 127, was approved by Gov. Phil Scott (R) in June.
The law allows for the issuance of up to six online sportsbook wagering licenses to qualified operators, marking the state’s first significant expansion of gaming since the Vermont Lottery was authorized in 1977. According to HB 127, in order for online sports betting to start in the Green Mountain State, at least two licenses must be granted.
This week, the state disclosed that five bids were received in response to its Request for Proposal (RFP). DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics, and ESPN Bet are the businesses vying for market entry.
Since there are no land-based casinos in Vermont, the Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery is in charge of regulating the state’s liberalization of sports betting. The five sports betting submissions will now be reviewed by the lottery and liquor regulatory, who will also investigate each company’s key shareholders and executives for suitability and assess the regulatory requirements of each mobile sportsbook platform proposed in their RFP.
Regulations for sports betting in Vermont stipulate that a minimum tax rate of 20% must be applied to gross sports betting revenue. At least $550,000 will be spent on each license, which must last for three years. In Vermont, a person must be 21 years old to wager on sports online.
In addition to those restrictions, Vermont’s sports betting RFP gave interested operators the task of making a deal more enticing in order to win one of the licenses. Officials from the Vermont Lottery and Liquor Department will assign each bid a score between 0 and 1,000.
A sportsbook will receive more points if it is willing to share a higher percentage of its gross revenue with the state. The projected gross and adjusted sports wagering revenue forecasts for each sportsbook will also be taken into account when awarding points.
Points will also be given based on the applicant’s ability to demonstrate its technical capabilities and regulatory safeguards such as geolocation protocols, deposit and withdrawal functionality, and other consumer protections, but the majority of the points will be awarded based on each applicant’s operational history in other legal sports betting states and commitments to responsible gaming.
Given that the operators of four of the five applicants have already undergone thorough background checks in the numerous other states where they operate, there won’t likely be much resistance to their suitability reviews. But there might be a little more scrutiny on ESPN Bet’s offer. ESPN Bet is a collaboration between Penn Entertainment and the sports media behemoth owned by Disney. Last month, Penn ended its ownership of Barstool Sports and Barstool Sportsbook after the casino operator’s relationship with Barstool’s divisive owner, Dave Portnoy, gave the business a lot of regulatory headaches.
With only 650,000 residents, Vermont ranks 49th out of the 50 states in terms of population, making it unlikely that four or five online sportsbooks could be supported there. Nevertheless, at least the other four operators can be expected to find favorable suitability outcomes.
Susan is a verified gambling support specialist who has helped thousands of problem gamblers get back on their feet through therapy and financial counseling. She’s also worked as a cage manager in four Las Vegas casinos and spent two years in Macau in her 30s, where she became extremely savvy at Sic Bo and other Asian table games. Her knowledge and expertise have and continue to play a priceless part in how we structure our content, particularly when it comes to game guides and casino reviews.
