As retail sports betting went live Tuesday in Massachusetts, bettors who attended a jovial BetMGM Sportsbook ribbon cutting ceremony at MGM Springfield were greeted with an expansive, life-size poster of Kevin Garnett.
Garnett, a 2008 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and 2021 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is captured on the 15-foot poster palming a basketball with his right hand while holding a smartphone with a BetMGM logo in his left.
Though Garnett was only seen at the opening of Tuesday's retail sportsbook in Springfield in poster form, another modern Boston sports great was there in person to place one of the ceremonial first bets. Former'Bruins defenseman Ray Bourque placed a wager Tuesday on the Bruins to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup later this year. If the Bruins prevail in June, the proceeds from Bourque’s $100 wager on the overwhelming Stanley Cup favorites (+450) to win the Cup will be donated to his foundation.
Bourque, who won the Norris Trophy for the league's top defenseman five times with the Bruins, was joined by three Massachusetts politicians in placing the book's first wagers. The local pols, state Sen. Adam Gomez, Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, all wagered on the Super Bowl.