Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Sports Betting Age topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public hearing on HB 83: proponents urge raising minimum sports‑betting age from 18 to 21
Summary
Supporters at a House Ways and Means hearing argued that the state should raise the minimum age for sports wagering from 18 to 21, citing research on youth vulnerability to addictive behavior, while the Lottery director told the committee that revenue impacts would be modest.
Representatives of public‑health organizations and the bill sponsor told the House Ways and Means Committee that House Bill 83 would reduce harm to young people by raising the minimum age for sports wagering from 18 to 21.
Representative Sally Fellows (Plymouth/Ashland/Holderness), the bill sponsor, told the committee the fiscal note indicates bettors aged 18–20 accounted for a small percentage of state sports betting revenue but collectively wagered millions of dollars. Fellows said the bill’s intent is to delay exposure to easy, 24/7 mobile sports wagering and to reduce the number of gamblers who develop problematic gambling behavior by adding three years of developmental maturation.
Marlene Warner, chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health, testified in support and called youth gambling a “black and white” public‑health issue: she said research shows an earlier onset of gambling increases the risk of later gambling problems, and she noted the majority of U.S. jurisdictions that have legalized sports wagering set the minimum age at 21. Janine Rucero (marketing director with prior casino experience) and Katie LaHoulier (Mass Council staff) also testified in favor, saying the 18–20 cohort is not a major operator revenue target and is particularly vulnerable to mobile‑app normalization of wagering.
Charlie McIntyre, Director of the New Hampshire Lottery, testified as an information witness and declined to take a position on the policy. He confirmed the fiscal note’s estimate that the state’s net revenue attributable to bettors under 21 was modest (the fiscal estimate shown to the committee was about $639,000 in state revenue for the prior year, derived from a small percentage share of the total handle). McIntyre said age verification for online accounts is straightforward using available technology; verifying age at retail (lottery ticket/retail sportsbook) is more operationally challenging because it requires trained clerks at a large number of retail locations.
Committee members asked about the relative size of the fiscal impact versus public‑health benefits and about enforcement. No vote on the bill was taken at the hearing.
