- iGaming is being considered in Massachusetts
- A hearing on legislation to authorize online casinos is set for next week
- Massachusetts is currently home to three casinos and online sports betting
Legislation in Massachusetts to authorize, regulate, and tax online casino gambling will be considered next week by the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure.
With Massachusetts’ two southern neighbors, Connecticut and Rhode Island, already home to legal iGaming, some state lawmakers in Boston believe it’s time for the commonwealth to get on board with allowing online slot machines and table games. Introduced in February by state Sen. Paul Feeney (D-Bristol) and Rep. Daniel Cahill (D-Essex), Senate Bill 235 and House Bill 332 are companion measures seeking to make Massachusetts an iGaming jurisdiction.
The joint committee will deliberate the statutes next week on Monday, June 23.
Top Regulator Calls for Guardrails
Only seven states allow online casino gambling. Feeney and Cahill hope Massachusetts joins Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia in benefiting from iGaming tax revenue.
It’s been two years since lawmakers in Rhode Island expanded gambling to the internet to become the seventh iGaming market. While internet gambling legislation has since been considered in a slew of state capitals, no additional iGaming market has come online.
This week, the Maine State Legislature forwarded an online casino measure to Gov. Janet Mills (D) that would afford the state’s tribes with iGaming rights. Mills is expected to veto the bill.
Jordan Maynard, the chair of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC), has spoken unfavorably of late regarding the country’s quick embrace of online gambling.
When I think about the industry right now, I see a highway without speed limits, cars without seatbelt dingers. Regulators are who put the seatbelt dingers in. I don’t think the car manufacturers just woke up one day and decided to annoy whoever’s driving the car until they put their seatbelt on,” Maynard said in an interview with The Guardian.
“A lot of people try to figure me out as a regulator. It’s really simple,” Maynard continued. “I’m not thinking about big business — I’m thinking about how this affects the patrons and the citizens of Massachusetts.”
MGM Resorts and Penn Entertainment, which manage MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park, have been rather supportive of securing iGaming rights in states where such gambling expansion has been considered. Wynn Resorts, however, has been less bullish. The Encore Boston Harbor operator shuttered its online gaming unit, WynnBet, in 2023.
Massachusetts Online Casino Bill Details
As drafted, Feeney and Cahill’s bills would allow each of the state’s three brick-and-mortar casinos to pursue up to two iGaming partners. The legislation would additionally authorize as many as four untethered online casino skins.
Each iGaming concession would cost $5 million upfront. After five years, the licenses would be renewed at another $5 million for an additional five-year term.
Along with licensing fees, the state would impose a 20% tax on game gross gaming revenue from iGaming. The proposed tax would presumably be attractive to iGaming operators, including Boston-based DraftKings, as it’s considerably lower than the 54% levy in Pennsylvania and the 52.5% tax in Rhode Island imposed on online slots. Connecticut taxes all forms of iGaming at 18%.
Massachusetts is the 16th-most populated state with about 7.1 million people, but it is the wealthiest, with a median household income last year at nearly $100K.
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