Ozzy The Bear To Make SB54 Pick, MT Sports Betting Still Stagnant

• Ozzy has correctly picked the winner of the past six Super Bowls.
• Montana has yet to launch sports betting in the state.
• In Montana, sports betting is only allowed at businesses with an alcoholic beverage license.

BILLINGS, Mont. – With Super Bowl 54 around the corner, an annual event is set to take place in the state of Montana because a 700-pound Grizzly Bear at ZooMontana named Ozzy is set to make his selection for the winner of this year's Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.

The pie-eating grizzly bear is looking to pick the correct Super Bowl winner for the seventh year in a row. Friday morning, Ozzy will get the opportunity to improve his Super Bowl prediction record to 7-1. The only blemish on Ozzy’s record came when he chose the Denver Broncos to beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII.

As Ozzy prepares to make his pick many sports bettors that live in Montana are still waiting for the state government to fully implement its new sports betting rules that were approved by the Montana Lottery.

One of the rules only allows sports betting at businesses with licenses to sell alcohol and does not prevent residents from betting with offshore sportsbooks. The House Bill 725 that was passed in 2019, made sports gambling legal and put the Montana Lottery in charge of regulating the industry.

The state is missing out on a big potential payday by not having their sports betting markets set up before the Super Bowl and there has been no concrete time table when Montana will fully roll out its state-sponsored betting service Sports Bet Montana.

Many residents feel it is a shame that the state of Montana won’t give bettors the opportunity to bet with or against Ozzy without going to an online sportsbook or traveling across state lines.

Super Bowl 54 will be at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on February 2nd with kick-off scheduled at 6:30 p.m. ET.