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Could Mass. ban prop bets? What to know about the Beacon Hill proposal for new sports betting limits
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We could break a 150-year-old temperature record today in Boston. But don't let March trick you — the cold air is plotting a comeback later this week. Danielle Noyes has a preview of today's warmth and the lurking winter weather.
Now, to the news:
On Beacon Hill: Massachusetts lawmakers have taken a small step toward making some pretty big changes to the state's sports betting landscape. As the State House News Service first reported yesterday, a Senate bill that would ban prop bets and betting on live games recently passed its first hurdle: a favorable 5-0 vote from the chamber's committee on economic development and emerging technologies. But does it have the legs to become law? Here's what to know:
- What's the reason for the proposal? The bill — sponsored by state Sen. John Keenan — comes amid growing concern about sports betting addiction, particularly among young adults. According to Keenan, his bill takes aim at the "most addictive form of bets." (Prop bets are wagers on an individual performance or a specific event happening during a game, such as who scores a touchdown or wins Super Bowl MVP. Live bets are wagers with constantly changing odds while the game is in progress.) "They are quick, they're easy to place, and they provide instant gratification if somebody should win — or a desire to respond to it, if they should lose, perhaps by doubling down," Keenan told WBUR's Rachell Sanchez-Smith last year, after first introducing the bill.
- What else does it do? If passed, the so-called Bettor Health Act wouldn't only ban live betting and prop bets. It would also ban sports betting ads during televised sporting events in Massachusetts and raise the state's 20% tax on online and mobile sports betting revenue to 51% — the same rate it's taxed at in neighboring New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New York.
- What's next: The bill is still far off from hitting Gov. Maura Healey's desk, and State House leaders have yet to indicate any support. (The offices of both House Speaker Ron Mariano — who spearheaded the push in 2022 to legalize sports betting — and Senate President Karen Spilka declined to comment on the legislation Monday.) The bill now goes the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which could advance to a full Senate vote or do nothing at all.
In other sports-related news: Prosecutors are dropping a misdemeanor domestic assault charge against New England Patriots defensive lineman Christian Barmore. The 26-year-old had been accused of grabbing his girlfriend by the shirt and throwing her to the floor during an argument last summer in Mansfield — which allegedly began with a disagreement over their bedroom thermostat being set at 70 degrees versus 68.
- However, Bristol County prosecutors said they now don't believe they can prove their case against Barmore, because the woman who made the complaint did not want to travel out of state for the proceedings, among other reasons.
All aboard: Tickets go on sale today for the MBTA's special event trains for this month's Brazil-France exhibition soccer match at Gillette Stadium. The $30 tickets will be available at 11 a.m. exclusively on the mTicket app. The T is running four trains from Boston's South Station to Foxborough for the March 26 friendly. As WBUR's Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez recently reported, the agency is using the game as a trial run for the World Cup, when the T will run as many as 14 special event trains on game days.
- The increased special event service also means that the T will be canceling some regular commuter rail trains on the Foxborough/Franklin line that afternoon. Click here for all the details.
Point32Health, the company behind Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, laid off roughly 100 employees yesterday — or 2.3% of its workforce. As The Boston Globe first reported, it's just the latest round of job cuts for the Canton-based health insurer, which is now on year five of multimillion-dollar operating losses. According to the Globe, Point32 has cut more than 450 jobs since last October.
P.S.— Ever wondered who's behind the news? Click here for a look at the baby broadcasters, engineers and managers who keep WBUR going (plus a Boston sports icon for good measure).
