An online lottery will hurt Main Street retailers

Stores cannot absorb another government-induced revenue hit

By Robert Mellion Lottery, State Government 0 Comments May 20, 2023

LOCALLY OWNED retail stores are rightfully up in arms about inclusion of an online lottery in the House fiscal 2024 budget. As demonstrated through testimony before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, an online lottery system in competition against stores is not needed. The expansion of the lottery online will harm(...)

Mass. residents placed $568m in sports bets in March

DraftKings, FanDuel handled 77% of wagers

By Bruce Mohl Casinos, Sports betting 0 Comments Apr 18, 2023

MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS placed $568 million in legal sports bets in March, with 77 percent of the money wagered with DraftKings and FanDuel. March was the first month where the state’s six online licensees and three brick-and-mortar casinos were all taking sports bets, so the numbers provide the first indication of sports betting’s popularity in Massachusetts.(...)

Healey backs moving Lottery games online

Agrees with House that Lottery needs to be on even footing with sports betting

By Chris Lisinski Lottery, Online gambling 0 Comments Apr 14, 2023

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. MAURA HEALEY is on board with the House’s push to legalize online Massachusetts Lottery sales, a stance that could ramp up pressure on the Senate to approve another gambling expansion shortly after sports betting launched. Saying that her answer might leave host Jim Braude “shocked,” Gov. Maura Healey told GBH’s(...)

Gaming Commission rejects bid to bet on Boston Marathon

DraftKings didn't consult BAA before making its request

By Colin A. Young Sports betting 0 Comments Apr 7, 2023

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LEGAL BETTING will not be allowed in Massachusetts on this year’s Boston Marathon after a request from DraftKings to take wagers was met with opposition from race organizers and gambling regulators. DraftKings had asked the Gaming Commission to add the Boston Marathon to the catalog of events approved for wagering in(...)

Sports betting opens with big bang

In first 3 days, 400,000 accounts active, 8m transactions

By Colin A. Young Sports betting 0 Comments Mar 14, 2023

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MORE THAN 400,000 mobile sports betting accounts were active during the first three days online was available in Massachusetts and more than 8 million transactions took place, making Massachusetts the fifth busiest mobile betting state in the country last weekend. GeoComply, a vendor that provides the Gaming Commission with geolocation and fraud(...)

Online sports betting launches in Massachusetts

Tightened regulations on advertising likely after AG’s office sounds alarms

By Jennifer Smith Online betting 0 Comments Mar 10, 2023

SIX OPERATORS started taking online sports bets at 10 a.m. Friday, launching a new era of Massachusetts gambling one day after gaming officials and the attorney general worried about how to protect vulnerable populations from being inundated with gambling advertisements. “Gambling in our state is about to enter a new phase,” Pat Moore, first assistant(...)

Encore allowed to expand its gaming footprint

Casino operator can add gambling east of Broadway

By Bruce Mohl Casinos 0 Comments Feb 8, 2023

THE MASSACHUSETTS Gaming Commission voted 4-1 on Wednesday to allow Encore Boston Harbor to expand its gambling operations in Everett to a new property under development across the street from the company’s existing casino. The commission bent over backwards to accommodate the expansion, interpreting a 2013 vote by Everett voters as a mandate for extending(...)

Encore posts record-high gambling revenues

Casino brings in $68.4m, split equally between slots, table games

By Bruce Mohl Casinos 0 Comments Jan 17, 2023

THE ENCORE BOSTON HARBOR casino in Everett posted record-high gambling revenues in December, propelled by money spent at the facility’s gaming tables. The large haul at Encore, combined with fairly strong revenues at MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, yielded nearly $28.8 million in state tax revenues for December — $138,000 more than(...)

Start dates for in-person sports betting set

Soft launch set for January 30, public betting starts in February

By Colin A. Young Sports betting 0 Comments Dec 22, 2022

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE GAMING COMMISSION on Thursday narrowed the launch date for in-person sports betting in Massachusetts and it appears as if the first bets could be placed during a “soft launch” on Monday, January 30 by people hand-picked by the commission and the betting companies. The rollout that the commission discussed but(...)

Can casinos expand gaming beyond their original footprint?

Wynn is making the case for an across-the-street expansion

By Bruce Mohl Casinos 0 Comments Dec 16, 2022

IN FEBRUARY, Wynn Resorts proposed an entertainment complex across the street from its existing Everett casino, complete with a theater, bars and restaurants, a parking garage, and eventually additional hotels. At the time, Wynn urged the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to consider the entertainment complex as something separate and apart from its existing casino, and therefore(...)