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You can bet college sports from Massachusetts using any number of top websites but it is likely you will not be able to do so with in-state licensed sportsbooks, assuming legislation is passed to allow these companies to be based here.
The American Gaming Association on October 13 sent a letter to the Massachusetts legislature arguing against a ban on betting on collegiate athletics within any future authorization of sports betting. This comes in the wake of the Massachusetts leading college athletic representatives publicly opposed college sports betting last month.
"Allowing legal, regulated wagering on collegiate events strengthens the integrity of games and protects bettors, competitions and athletes competing in them by enabling robust, transparent and collaborative monitoring by regulators and law enforcement. Only in legal, regulated markets do law enforcement have insight into betting patterns and activity that can help them identify concerning trends that in turn help to uncover tampering with games and athletes. No such protection extists in the illegal market."
It's a hard sell, however, the idea that to combat the potential for game fixing in collegiate sports is to allow wagering on games.
Local bookies are less likely to have the capactity to identify unusual betting patterns while offshore books have in the past alerted authorities to suspicious wagering activity.
In-state sportsbooks are unlikely any time prior to March Madness. Those living in and visiting Massachusetts will have to rely on sports betting sites licensed outside Massachusetts, all of which take bets on college sports.
The commonwealth is not necessarily known as a bastion of diehard college sports fans. Never-the-less, wagering on college games is still quite popular.
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
