What You Need To Know

• Governor Charlie Baker signed An Act to Regulate Sports Wagering (House Bill No. 5164) on August 10, 2022, legalizing sports betting in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has been tasked with overseeing the promulgation of the state’s sports wagering industry
• The full text of Chapter 23N can be found here: Mass. General Laws c.23N – Authorization and Regulation of Sports Wagering
• MGL Chapter 23N creates three categories of sports wagering licensees
  • Category 1 for licensed casinos
  • Category 2 for racetracks and/or simulcast centers
  • Category 3 for online/mobile operators

Application Process

• The commission began the application process by releasing a scoping survey on October 7, 2022. Operators were required to fill out this survey as part of the application process
• Applications were due for Category 1 and Category 3 licenses on November 21, 2022
  • The Commission voted to allow applications for Category 2 licenses to be submitted on a rolling basis
• 15 applications were submitted
  • 3 Category 1 applications
  • 6 Category 3 applications tethered to a Category 1 or 2 license
  • 6 untethered Category 3 applications

Commission Review

• The MGC held meetings nearly every day in December 2022 and January 2023 as well as into February 2023 to publicly review those applications.
• Recordings of these meetings can be found here.

Licensees

Category 1 licensees

• Encore Boston Harbor
• MGM Springfield
• Plainridge Park Casino

Category 3 tethered licensees

• BetMGM (MGM Springfield)
• Caesars Sportsbook (Encore Boston  Harbor)
• Fanatics (Plainridge Park Casino)
• Penn Sports Interactive (Plainridge Park Casino)
• WynnBet (Encore Boston  Harbor)

Category 3 untethered licensees

• Bally Bet
• Betr
• Betway
• DraftKings
• FanDuel Sportsbook

Note: Bally Bet, Betway, and Fanatics have been awarded Category 3 licensees to conduct sports wagering, but those licensees are not yet in operation.

Timeline