A great deal of excitement brewed last week when the state House of Representatives included and passed an Economic Development Bill that included the approval of sports betting in the state – a huge gain for Encore Boston Harbor in Everett.
However, by the end of last week, the excitement had become a dull humming noise.
The matter had been removed from a similar version of the bill in the Senate and did not get put back into that bill – which passed late on July 29. The matter moves to a Conference Committee, which will likely not insert sports betting into the equation.
State Sen. Sal DiDomenico said sports betting never made it into the Senate version of the bill, and would not be taken up now.
“That’s not something that will be added into the Economic Development bill,” he said. “We’re going to set that aside for now and take it up in the fall.”
Sports betting is a big word at Encore right now as they look to any types of revenues they can create as they re-open and try to regain a viable position in their business. Having a sports betting operation there would be a seamless transition as they already run a very successful sports book in Las Vegas. At the resort, many in operations have said they believe it wouldn’t be so much of a money-maker as it would be a way to draw in more and new guests to the resort – who would then eat, shop, drink and hit the gaming floor.
Gov. Charlie Baker submitted a sports betting legalization bill to the State Legislature more than one year ago.