BOSTON (WHDH) - As the Bruins prepared for the puck to drop in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals Wednesday, just up the road the State House, the owners of TD Garden had a message for lawmakers.
They want legal sports betting in Massachusetts. They want an online option, and they want to run their own online betting platform as well.
If they have it their way, fans would one day be able to place a bet that the Bruins will win right on their phone from right inside the Garden.
“It’s very exciting,” said TD Garden President Amy Latimer. “We believe there’s a lot of opportunity here.”
State lawmakers just wrapped up two days of hearings on potentially legalizing sports betting in Massachusetts.
On Wednesday morning, the president of TD Garden testified.
The chairman of the company that owns TD Garden is Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs.
TD Garden says it wants to be in the faceoff circle if sports betting is legalized.
“Professional sports teams inherently know our fans, and we’re already investing in technology and delivering a new fan experience,” Latimer said.
The company that owns TD Garden already runs nine casinos across the country and has gambling licenses in seven states.
So its executives say they’re perfectly positioned to run their own online betting app in Massachusetts.
“It’s obviously the future,” Latimer said. “It is everything that we do today.”
Lawmakers were initially skeptical. One worried about a potential conflict of interest with the owner of a sports team also having a stake in the app where you can bet on that team.
But company executives say sports teams and betting apps don’t have to wear different color jerseys.
“We don’t think that Jeremy Jacobs should be able to bet on the Bruins,” said Jack McNeill of Delaware North. “We do think, however, that arenas should have the ability to have a platform.”
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