Massachusetts Politician Wants Legal Online Sports Betting

Published: Sunday, August 16, 2009 Online-Casinos.com

Massachusetts USA Republican candidate Christy Mihos has gone public with a statement that says the state should legalize gambling on professional and college sports, adding that the industry could raise the profits of the state Lottery and create over $1 billion USD annually for the tax coffers."We could do this very quickly and solve the revenue problem," Mihos commented to the State House News Service.

Mr. Mihos said that Massachusetts averages $829 per person spending on the state Lottery, exceeding Maryland's $290 rate and New Jersey's, $270. He wants Massachusetts to be part of the $400 billion industry when both legal and illegal bets are considered.

Punters can already use online sportsbooks in the United States, as well as traditional bookies. According to the American Gaming Association, bettors placed $2.58 million USD on Nevada's sportsbooks last year and the National Gambling Impact Study Commission estimated that illegal wagers could reach as much as $380 billion USD per year. These figures prop up Mihos proposal that he hopes will cure the decline in the State Lottery revenues.

Mihos said, of the state Lottery "In essence Massachusetts put out of business the numbers bookie and a lot of illegal gambling" He added, "This would sort of close the loop. People are going to gamble … I'm just trying to keep as many of those dollars here for the Commonwealth. It'll just be a different type of gambling with a different type of bookie."

Teaming up with local professional sports teams to market its products the state Lottery is still expecting a shortfall of $34 million from the estimate on which the budget was based. Mihos has called for cuts to state services and a 10 percent reduction in payroll. The gambling revenue would help offset these tax cuts, including rollbacks of the income tax rate from 5.3 percent to 5 percent and the sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 5 percent, reducing the capital gains tax, and a full repeal of the estate tax.