Montana Lottery Approves Sports Bets To Be Offered
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Montana Lottery Commission has approved the types of bets that will be available when legal wagering on professional and collegiate sporting events begins.
In addition, lottery officials said the installation of betting terminals could begin as soon as next month.
Under the decision Wednesday, betting will be allowed on basketball, baseball, ice hockey, football, soccer, tennis, boxing/mixed martial arts, golf and motor sports.
Sports Bet Montana will allow wagering on head-to-head events with or without a point spread; over/under bets on the total score of a contest and in-game betting on specific events. It will also accept parlay bets; bets on specific outcomes, such as a hole-in-one at a golf tournament; and future wagering such as betting on a team to win a series or a championship.
The maximum bet allowed at a kiosk, where only cash bets can be taken, is $250, lottery officials said. People can bet up to $1,000 via an app while inside a licensed location by creating an account tied to their bank account. Credit betting is not allowed.
Under the rules, the maximum payout on a single bet is $100,000.
The lottery has received about 230 applications for sports betting licenses and had issued 127 through Thursday, including 20 in Billings, 12 in Missoula, 11 in Helena and 10 each in Great Falls and Butte.
The Montana Lottery expects to begin installing betting terminals at licensed locations during the week of March 9, officials said. Once employees at the locations have received training, the terminals will become operational. Officials declined to say how quickly that might happen.
The Montana Legislature approved the sports betting law in 2019, a year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited most states from authorizing sports betting. The court said it was up to the states to make their own laws.