Famous as the home of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and pure maple syrup, Vermont has not yet found its sweet spot when it comes to legal sports wagering. But earlier this month, a paper detailing how to create a regulatory framework for such betting began circulating in Montpelier, meaning the state could be headed toward considering the issue.
Vermont remains one of 14 states without legal sports betting, and is the only New England state not to have authorized the activity. In the region, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island currently offer legal betting, while regulators in Massachusetts and Maine are both working on rules with the intent to go live in 2023.
The 12-page Vermont paper comes from a study committee created earlier this year, and does everything from defining what sports betting is to laying out types of regulatory structures and breaking down what consumer protections could look like. The paper does not address tax rates or the number of operators that could be in the market. Rather, it appears to be an introductory guide for lawmakers, and its existence suggests that sports betting bills could be filed for the 2023 session.