HELENA – Sports betting in Montana took a major step forward over the weekend when the Montana Lottery began accepting licenses from businesses looking to offer Sports Bet Montana, the lottery’s new sports wagering product.

The 2019 Legislature in early May authorized the Montana Lottery to offer sports wagering. Since then, the lottery has been working on all aspects of designing and creating the new product. After a public comment period that ended recently, the official sports wagering rules were published in the Montana Administrative Register late last week, paving the way for licensing to begin over the weekend.

“Today is a big day for Sports Bet Montana,” said Montana Lottery Director Angela Wong. “We’ve been working a long time for this and we’re excited to see that hard work pay off and excited to start the process of launching sports betting.”

Licensing is the first part of the Lottery’s roll out of Sports Bet Montana. As businesses become licensed, the lottery will begin statewide training followed by placing the new Sports Bet Montana equipment.

Locations meeting the requirements for licensing can complete the license application at https://svc.mt.gov/dor/eStopPortal/Default.aspx, the State of Montana’s eStop licensing portal.

Under the law, players can only place bets at licensed Sports Bet Montana locations. Players can use a mobile app to see the upcoming events, the lines and bets available, but they will only be able to place a bet from inside a licensed location. Bets can be placed either on the Sports Bet Montana terminal or through the app when it is connected to the main Lottery system. This connection can only occur inside a licensed retail location.

Gambling over the Internet is illegal in Montana.

The Montana Lottery was created by referendum in 1986. Since then, it has paid over $590 million in prizes and returned approximately $259 million to the State of Montana.

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