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A bill aiming to add guardrails to mobile sports betting in Massachusetts has cleared a key committee. S. 302, the Bettor Health Act, quietly advanced through the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies by a 5-0 margin.
Its next stop is the Senate Ways and Means Committee, where similar bills have historically stalled.
Major changes proposed to MA sports gambling
The Commonwealth launched legal sports betting in 2023 after then-Governor Charlie Baker signed H. 5164 into law in 2022. Baker, who now serves as president of the NCAA, has called for a nationwide ban on college sports proposition bets, or “prop bets.”
S. 302 addresses this by banning prop bets while an event is live. Bill sponsor Sen. John Keenan, D-Quincy, describes the legislation as imperative for establishing necessary boundaries.
“We unleashed an industry that now promotes betting on anything and everything imaginable and unimaginable all over the world, 24 hours a day, every single day,” Keenan said, according to Boston 25 News.
“I want to publicly apologize to those who’ve lost the opportunity to sit and watch a game just for the enjoyment of the game… to those who find themselves in the dark spaces of betting addiction, and to those working through recovery.
The Bettor Health Act would also:
- Ban sports betting advertisements during televised sporting events.
- Increase the state excise tax from 20% to 51% of gross receipts on online and mobile bets.
This tax hike would bring Massachusetts in line with regional neighbors New York, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
Supporters target ‘problematic’ prop bets
In a January NCAA letter to state gaming commissions, Baker highlighted what he views as the dangers of prop bets in college sports. The letter cited open investigations into potential game manipulation by roughly 40 student-athletes in 2025. This included 11 instances of players betting on their own performances or sharing insider information with bettors.
Rather than a total ban on propositional wagers, the Bettor Health Act focuses on eliminating live betting options for college sports.
The formal legislative session in Massachusetts ends on July 31, 2026.
