Unlike its neighbor New York, which has progressed significantly on the legalization of online poker and many believe a bill on the matter will be signed into law this year, Massachusetts may leave online gambling and lottery for next year’s legislative session.
Senate President Stan Rosenberg said in a recent interview with local media that state lawmakers have been approaching the matter with great caution as they want to ensure that online gambling and lottery sales will not harm Massachusetts’ immature land-based casino industry and existing lottery offering.
Many believed that the state could emerge as the dark horse in the 2017 US online gambling legislation effort. However, whatever momentum iGaming may have gained in Massachusetts over the past several months, it seems that it would not be enough to result in any imminent reforms in existing regulations.
Sen. Rosenberg said that both the legalization of online gambling and online lottery sales has been discussed in the Legislature and that he expects the results from research on both matter to be presented to him by the end of 2017. The Massachusetts Senate’s top lawmaker pointed out that although no legislation will be introduced this year, the topic may resurface in the Legislature during the 2018 legislative session.
A specially assembled Commission on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports is currently preparing a report on the effects the legalization of this types of offering would have and the potential implications that may arise. Said report is expected to be compiled and presented to the Legislature by the end of July.
Online lottery has been a topic more broadly discussed in the state than iGaming. What is more, the effort for making online lottery sales legal has gained quite a lot of support from different legislators. A bill on the matter was voted positively in the Massachusetts Senate last year, but died in the House. Hopes were that lawmakers would this year leverage and build on what had been accomplished.
Opponents of the move have claimed that existing lottery operations would only suffer from the addition of online offering. As for supporters, they have claimed that online lottery sales would boost the state’s lottery industry significantly and would engage more customers as their preferences and playing behavior evolve with technology taking bigger and bigger part in their everyday life.
On a positive note, iGaming and online lottery have been brought to Massachusetts lawmakers’ attention at a time when Internet gambling is growing quickly on a global scale. However, bearing in mind that several states have been discussing the topic for years now and without taking any major steps towards legalization, Massachusetts-based proponents of the idea may too have to wait for a while.
