Online sports betting in the state of Massachusetts has finally become officially live, with a total of six platforms available to place bets through. Bettors will enjoy the comfort of placing bets on some of the most popular sportsbook providers in the country.

Massachusetts, the most populous state in the New England region of the Northeastern U.S., has become the 24th state in the country to launch legal, regulated online sports betting/wagering. Six online sportsbooks, viz. DraftKings, FanDuel, Barstool, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, and WynnBet, commenced their online sports betting operations at 10 am EST on Friday this week.

It took a long time for the Commonwealth to launch legal online sports betting services. The journey to legalize the controversial activity started in May 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Professional & Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992, which forbade single-game sports wagering everywhere outside of the state of Nevada, was against the U.S. Constitution’s anti-commandeering interpretations. After the apex court struck down PASPA, states of the nation got the right to decide and determine their own rules on sports betting.

However, Massachusetts lawmakers couldn’t reach a compromise for the next many years to regulate the controversial activity. After debating for years, the lawmakers formed a special Sports Betting Conference Committee, which settled down differences between the state Senate and House. A bill related to sports betting was approved in July last year, and former Gov. Charlie Baker (R) eventually signed it into a law in August, granting legal status to sports betting.

The highly controversial activity of sports wagering was finally allowed at Massachusetts’ three commercial casinos, two horse racetracks, as well as through internet.

DraftKings, which is already accepting bets in as many as two dozen states of the U.S., said that the prospect of serving betting enthusiasts and fans of the Boston Celtics, Boston Red Sox, and New England Patriots will be an added thrill.