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Massachusetts expands Super Bowl prop bet options to include coin toss. But why?
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It’s Friday — one week from Valentine’s Day. (Cough, cough.)
We have lots of news below on how the impacts of President Trump’s administration continue to ripple across Massachusetts, from school sports to immigration to environmental policy.
But first, let’s take a timeout to tackle one of the more trivial issues facing government: Should people in Massachusetts be allowed to bet on the Super Bowl coin toss?
Gotta give them props: As people who pay an unusual amount of attention to this issue may remember, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission considered the same question on the eve of last year’s Super Bowl. At the time, they voted 3-2 to keep wagers on the Super Bowl’s pregame coin toss as a prop bet, which is off limits. But with the Super Bowl — the state’s biggest sports betting day of the year — coming up again this weekend, the commission decided to return to the subject yesterday.
- A little background: In general, Massachusetts’ sports betting laws only let you wager on events that occur within the actual game. You can bet on how many touchdowns Patrick Mahomes throws Sunday, but you can’t bet on the national anthem length or the color of the Gatorade dumped on the winning coach. (This is different from some other states with legal sports betting.)
- What’s the case for allowing coin toss bets? Well, it’s similar to the argument for allowing sports betting in the first place. There’s at least some market for it. It would generate a little extra tax revenue for the state. And it’s increasingly allowed in other states. According to Gaming Commissioner Eileen O’Brien, about two-thirds of the states with legal sports betting permit wagers on the Super Bowl coin toss. Fellow Commissioner Brad Hill said he felt it was worth revisiting after two people asked him about the coin toss bets in recent weeks — including one who yelled at him while he was refereeing a basketball game.
- What’s the case against it? Aside from it being a really random way to lose money? For one, it doesn’t seem like sports betting companies care that much; not one operator petitioned for the change. O’Brien argued the revenue impacts are probably negligible and that it’s unlikely “someone’s going to drive across state lines just for this bet.” There’s also the fact the issue was once again raised at the last minute without more of a formal process or deeper analysis. (Hill said he “Googled as many news articles” as he could and found zero evidence any other states had problems with the integrity of coin toss bets.)
- Drumroll, please: After a 25-minute debate, the commission voted 3-2 to allow Super Bowl coin toss prop bets this year. A key factor was that one previous “no” vote, former commission chair Cathy Judd-Stein, retired last year. She was replaced by former Melrose mayor Paul Brodeur, who cast the decisive “yes” vote yesterday.
- Now what? The state’s most popular sports betting platform, DraftKings, moved almost immediately to allow several coin toss wagers. (You can also bet whether the Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles wins the coin toss and if that team also wins the actual game.) For those wondering, the odds of it landing heads or tails are even.
Don’t put that shovel away: Another snowstorm is headed our way this weekend — and it’s likely to be quite bigger than the few inches we got yesterday. According to meteorologist Danielle Noyes, it looks like most places in Massachusetts will see “between 6 inches and a foot of snow.” The National Weather Service predicts the chance Boston gets at least 6 inches at 91%. (See their snow forecast map here.)
- Fun fact: If Boston sees more than 8 inches of snow, this storm will be the city’s biggest in nearly three years.
On Beacon Hill: The future of Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system is now in the state Senate’s hands. House lawmakers passed their version of Gov. Maura Healey’s $425 million shelter funding bill, which also includes tighter eligibility requirements and other major changes aimed at shrinking the size of the program.
Fare-free in the valley: The Merrimack Valley Transit authority is making its buses fare-free permanently. The advisory board for MeVa — which serves the Lawrence area — voted on the policy yesterday, after reviewing a report on the benefits of going fare-free in 2022. WBUR’s Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez has more details here.
P.S.— Who was named as Hasty Pudding’s Woman of the Year? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of this week’s stories.
