News

May 10, 2023

Vermont Sports Betting News

Efforts to bring legal online sports betting to Vermont crossed a major hurdle

Efforts to bring legal online sports betting to Vermont crossed a major hurdle last week. Legislators in the Vermont House of Representatives passed a sports betting bill that now heads to the desk of Governor Phil Scott. The governor has already gone on record as a big supporter of legalized sports betting, and has voiced his intent to sign the bill into law as early as this week.

With the passage of Bill H.127, Vermont is poised to become the 38th U.S. state to legalize sports betting in some form, with this bill allowing for the launch of between two to six sports betting apps for use across the state.

With the sports betting bill having passed through the House and having the backing of the governor, Vermont is on pace to make online sports betting available by January 2024, just in time for football fans to get in on the NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl odds betting.

However, before that can happen, Vermont's Department of Liquor and Lottery (DLL) must first oversee a thorough and competitive bidding process for awarding licenses to operate sports betting apps in the state. Vermont sportsbooks will surely be some of the best sports betting sites on the market, but which ones is yet to be determined.

Governor Scott's press secretary Jason Maulucci was enthusiastic in the wake of the bill's passage last week, saying he expects the bill to reach Gov. Scott's desk this week and to be signed "approximately five days later."

Gambling.com Group's Lou Monaco has closely followed the progress of Bill H.127 as it has made its way through the Vermont State Legislature. According to Monaco, the licensing process could get underway as soon as June 2023. Bids are expected to be accepted throughout the summer, with successful applicants getting awarded licenses sometime during the fourth quarter of this year.

Under the terms of the bill currently bound for the governor's desk, there is no provision for the opening of brick-and-mortar sportsbooks in Vermont. The initial launch of Vermont sports betting will be limited to online sportsbooks, with a minimum of two and a maximum of six sportsbook apps expected to go live in January 2024.

And with some of the nation's leading sportsbooks expected to be in the mix when sports betting goes live in the state, Vermont sports bettors can expect no shortage of lucrative sportsbook promo codes to accompany the launch.

Successful bidders will pay a license fee of $275,000, and will be subject to a tax rate of 20%. That is substantially lower than the tax rate charged in neighboring New York and New Hampshire, which each charge the nation's highest tax rate of 51%. Vermont sports betting apps will be made available to anyone who is at least 21 years old and physically present in the state.

The Vermont sports betting bill will make wagering available on both professional and college sports via the top sportsbook sites and apps. However, the state has elected to follow the lead of neighboring Massachusetts, with rules limiting betting on games involving in-state colleges to tournament play only.

While that may limit opportunities to wager on regular season college games, it opens the door for local basketball fans to use Vermont sports betting sites to back the Vermont Catamounts in March Madness betting action, while hockey fans can take full advantage of Frozen Four betting options.

These sportsbooks will allow for Vermont bettors to deposit via credit cards and PayPal, giving future sports bettors in Vermont lots of simple ways to get in the on the action.