Vermont regulators want to see sports betting sites duking it out for business in the Green Mountain State.
Exactly how many providers of Vermont sports betting will be determined through a competitive bidding process that has yet to begin. But H.127, legislation passed by the legislature last month that will bring legal sports betting to Vermont via mobile apps and sites, seeks two to six sportsbook operators for the state.
The Vermont Board of Liquor and Lottery approved evaluation criteria during its June 14 meeting for the state’s online sports betting-related request for proposals. That criteria is divided along technical and revenue lines. An operator, for instance, will be judged on the quality of its product and its past track record of regulatory compliance.
Bookmakers are also graded on the amount of money they propose to give the state, with the statutory minimum being 20% of their receipts. The approved evaluation criteria sets out that operators will receive 25 points for a revenue share of 20% to 30%, 50 points for a split of 31% to 40%, 75 points for 41% to 50%, and 100 points for 51% or more.
Permission to come aboard
The RFP for operators seeking to offer mobile wagering in Vermont should go live later this month. To compare, New Hampshire received 13 bids to offer legal sports betting there, although the state wound up choosing just one operator, DraftKings.
Ultimately, the hope is Vermont will have a few operators, but the Department of Liquor and Lottery (DLL) is allowed to select one or none if bids fall short of expectations. Those bookmakers will at least have competitors to worry about when setting lines and odds.
“We've had a lot of interest, but we'll see,” Commissioner Wendy Knight told the board last month. “The idea is to have a competitive market. We would like to have more than one. However, there is language built into the bill that if operators are not qualified, we're not required to select two if they don't meet the standards.”
To protect but serve
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed H.127 into law the same day of the liquor board’s meeting, June 14. Doing so added Vermont to the majority of states that have now legalized some form of event wagering and rounded out the New England region, where Vermont was the lone holdout.
DLL will act as the regulator of Vermont sports betting. Moreover, the legislation envisions operators will turn over at least 20% of their revenue to Vermont, in addition to a $550,000 fee they will pay at least once every three years.
Residents will have to be 21 or older to wager when the state's mobile sportsbooks launch, which could happen late this year or early next. The types of wagering available to Vermonters will include single-game bets, parlays, props, and in-play options.
There will be a wide variety of events to wager on as well, except for high school sports and college games played in Vermont or involving state schools unless the team is playing in a tournament like March Madness. Bettors can't use credit cards to fund their accounts or place wagers.
Knight said during the board meeting that the department sought to retain as much regulatory authority as possible during the legislative process to ensure nothing went in that could scare off operators or bettors. That was intended to help move bettors from gray and black-market betting sites to regulated ones.
“You want protection,” Knight said. “But you also don't want to disiVencentivize either the players to participate in the legalized market or the operators."
