Massachusetts: Six companies approved for temporary sports betting licenses ahead of March

The string of votes by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission comes just under two weeks before in-person betting is scheduled to launch at the end of January. Regulators’ action on the six companies does not mean they can immediately start accepting bets, as there are several hurdles they still need to jump through before mobile betting launches sometime in early March.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve temporary licensure for Bally Bet, FanDuel, DraftKings, Betway, and PointsBet. The commission voted 4-1 to find Betr, Jake Paul and Joey Levy’s so-called micro-betting application, preliminarily suitable for temporary licensure.
The commission spent the past several weeks pouring over applications from each of the companies, some of which run over a thousand pages. It was a somewhat similar process to the series of meetings the Gaming Commission held on sports betting licenses for the state’s three casinos and their affiliated mobile offerings.

State law allows the commission to award up to seven mobile or digital sports wagering licenses. Only six companies submitted full applications, leaving one spot to offer mobile betting not associated with a casino up for grabs.

In a post to social media, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins applauded state House Speaker Ronald Mariano, whose chamber, along with the Senate, passed Massachusetts’ sports betting law over the summer after years of it stalling out on Beacon Hill. The bill’s passage came at the last minute before formal legislative sessions ended for the year and protracted negotiations.

“If, like me, you’re excited about legal mobile sports betting coming to MA, you should know Speaker Mariano was instrumental in making it happen,” he said.

But all eyes are on Encore Boston Harbor, Plainridge Park Casino, and MGM Springfield as they are set to kick off in-person betting on Jan. 31. Preliminary plans indicate that each casino is likely to hold a ceremonial event complete with speaking programs.

At a meeting last week, Gaming Commission Executive Director Karen Wells said the commission was “on target” to launch in-person betting on time.

Gaming Labs International, a gaming service company that has helped the state launch the new industry, is scheduled to complete final compliance checks and walkthroughs of the three casinos on Jan. 30, the day before the official launch.

“We have confirmed that all betting should be tested in advance and that should be good to go,” Wells said.

But many of the launch day preparations hinge on what time of day the Gaming Commission plans to actually allow the sportsbooks to accept bets, and casino officials are clamoring to find out.

Commissioners plan to meet Friday morning at 11 a.m. with an agenda that calls for a discussion on the time of day in-person betting will launch. Multiple sources with knowledge of the discussions have indicated the commission is leaning towards a morning launch.