§ 1320. Sports wagering operators; competitive bidding process

(a) The Commissioner shall select operators through a competitive bidding process. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department shall be guided by and prioritize the following when conducting the competitive bidding process, selecting operators, and structuring agreements with the operators:

(1) maximizing revenues to the State;

(2) reducing the illegal market and converting wagerers to the legal market; and

(3) protecting Vermonters from problem gambling.

(b) The Board shall adopt procedures pursuant to 3 V.S.A. § 835 to establish criteria for the selection of operators. At a minimum, the Board’s guidelines shall require an applicant to include the following in the proposal:

(1) an estimate of the applicant’s potential adjusted gross sports wagering revenue and the percentage of adjusted gross sports wagering revenue from mobile sports wagering the applicant will pay to the State if selected to be an operator;

(2) the number of individually branded websites the operator proposes to use for its sports wagering operations in Vermont;

(3) the applicant’s responsible gaming plan and a description of responsible gaming safeguards that the applicant currently employs;

(4) a list of all jurisdictions where the applicant and any parent companies are currently authorized to conduct sports wagering operations;

(5) the applicant’s player acquisition model, advertising and affiliate programs, and marketing budget, including details on how the applicant will convert customers from wagering through illegal channels to wagering legally in the State;

(6) the estimated time frame for implementing the applicant’s sports wagering operations;

(7) the applicant’s integrity monitoring systems, including any current affiliations related to integrity monitoring; and

(8) the applicant’s plan for maximizing sustainable, long-term revenue for the State, including a detailed market analysis.

(c) Each operator selected through the competitive bidding process shall pay an operator fee of $550,000.00. The Commissioner and an operator may negotiate the renewal term upon which the fee will be reassessed. However, the Department shall not require an operator to pay the fee more than once in any three-year period.

(d) Each operator shall pay to the Department a revenue share that is determined by the Department through the competitive bidding process, provided that the revenue share shall not be less than 20 percent of adjusted gross sports wagering revenue.

(e) The Board shall adopt procedures governing the review and consideration of criminal background checks as a component of the competitive bidding process. The procedures shall establish standards for determining whether an applicant should not be selected as an operator due to the criminal history of the applicant’s principals or other individuals who control the operator applicant. The Department shall obtain a copy of fingerprint-based Vermont criminal history records, out-of-state criminal history records, and criminal history records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for each operator applicant, principal of an operator applicant, and any individual who controls an operator applicant.

(f) Notwithstanding subsection (e) of this section, the Department may accept third-party criminal background checks submitted by an operator applicant, principal of an operator applicant, or any individual who controls an operator applicant in lieu of obtaining those records from the Vermont Crime Information Center. The third-party background check shall:

(1) be conducted by a third-party consumer reporting agency or background screening company that is in compliance with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act; and

(2) include a multistate and multijurisdiction criminal record locator. (Added 2023, No. 63, § 1, eff. June 14, 2023.)