House subcommittee hears Massachusetts regulator on sports betting on college campuses

The U.S. House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development convened a hearing on November 11 titled "The Rise of Sports Gambling on College Campuses." The session was listed for 10:15 a.m. in 2175 Rayburn House Office Building. Written statements from the chair of the opening remarks and four witnesses were posted on the committee's calendar.

In written testimony, Jordan Maynard, chair of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, said legal sports wagering in the state is limited to people 21 or older and that licensed operators' age-verification systems "prevented at least 11,000 attempts to establish an account from people who are under 21." He cited a Commission-funded study from Boston University's School of Public Health finding that, among college students who reported using sportsbook apps, 34% nationally were under 21, compared with about 22% in Massachusetts.

Maynard said Massachusetts prohibits sports-betting advertising on college campuses and around college arenas, bars proposition bets on the individual performance of college athletes, and, except in tournaments such as March Madness, does not allow betting on Massachusetts college teams. He said the commission's investigations had led to 39 enforcement actions, with more than $1 million in penalties and nearly $10 million returned to patrons. He also said prediction-market platforms offer sports wagers, including college player props, outside those state rules, and he pointed to the Massachusetts attorney general's September 2025 lawsuit against Kalshi. The injunction and Kalshi's appeal are on our litigation tracker. We earlier reported the commission's Fanatics, BetMGM and FanDuel enforcement cases.

In his opening statement, Representative Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) said sports betting is now legal in 39 states and that handle at regulated sportsbooks had risen from just under $5 billion a year before the 2018 Supreme Court decision to $167 billion last year. He cited a 2023 NCAA survey that 67% of students living on campus had bet on sports, and he said another survey found that more than one in five students had used financial aid to place bets. The other witnesses were Dr. Lindsey Mortenson of the University of Michigan, Dr. Daniel Durkin of the University of Mississippi, and Cindy Clouner of Ohio State's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery.