Montana Has No Plans To Expand Online Sports Betting

Nick Makowitz Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

In 2019, Governor Steve Bullock signed a bill into law that legalized online sports betting in Montana. Governor Bullock actually had a choice between two bills. The one he ultimately signed gave the Montana State Lottery full control of the online betting market.

The state lottery conducts all online betting activity with the help of Intralot, a Greek lottery giant that specializes in servicing state-run gambling transactions.

Sports Bet Montana is the only available website and app that services online sports betting in the Treasure State. The bill that Governor Bullock vetoed would have provided the state more of a free market, allowing various sportsbooks to operate.

Interestingly enough, after Bullock signed one bill into law and vetoed another, he speculated that "if, in two years, the market can tolerate more entrants, then I fully expect the legislature will revisit whether a second model is prudent for our state."

Over two years later, the state lottery is still the only operator, and buzz surrounding the potential addition of more sportsbooks is practically non-existent.

While the state does offer online sports betting through the aforementioned Sports Bet Montana site, it’s different from most states. Users can’t actually be anywhere they please in Montana when they place a wager. One can only place a wager online while within the geo-fenced area of a retail location.

Currently, there are no public plans to expand the online sports betting landscape in Montana to include outside operators.

Sports betting enthusiasts and advocates almost certainly roll their eyes at this, but Montana is attempting to be safe and conservative. Montana is also making an effort to get local communities involved through granting sports betting licenses to bars and restaurants.

Not every bar or restaurant offers Sports Bet Montana, but they do offer sports betting in the form of sports pools and sports tab games.

Online and retail sports betting in Montana seem to have taken on inverse roles relative to other states in which online betting is legal. Typically, there are a handful of retail locations, and online sports betting takes form as the dominant force in the market. In Montana, retail locations are littered throughout the state while its one online sports betting platform serves to add convenience rather than to act as the primary betting mechanism.

After seeing steady decreases in betting handle throughout the summer, Montana has bounced back in the fall. It reported a $4.4 million sports betting handle in October 2021, just the fifth time it’s hauled in over $4 million since its inception. Although the state’s handle and revenue are low compared to the rest of the country, its hold percentage is extraordinarily high. At 12.9 percent, Montana’s hold percentage, or margin, is the one of the highest in the country.

If and when Montana does decide to make market entry available to outside operators, it will be fascinating to see how the landscape shapes up. With so many unique and popular retail locations, the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM would be entering uncharted territory.

Written by Nick Makowitz, our US Sports Betting Industry expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.

Nick Makowitz

In his spare time, Nick likes digging into NFL and NCAAB betting data, going to breweries with friends, and trying out any and every Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh. More from Nick Makowitz