Mass. Gaming Commission establish timeline on sports betting rollout

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – After much anticipation, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has set a timeline for the launch of sports betting. This comes after sports betting became officially legalized by lawmakers back in August.

However, fans who want to place legal sports bets in Massachusetts will have to wait until 2023.

Members of the state’s gaming commission spent hours over the course of two days last week discussing, and eventually approving, the launch of in-person ‘Category 1′ sports betting at places such as casinos by late January 2023. Mobile sports betting, which falls under a Category 3 license, is expected to be in place by early March.

However, conditions were applied to this timeline following much debate by commissioners over the pacing of the sports betting launch.

“If we were to propose a date, starting just for discussion purposes only and as part of the motion, we could add language that said something like, ‘Understanding that should there be staff or public comment issue brought up that would not allow for launch on this date,’ that the commission would need to discuss and take further action,” said Commissioner Bradford Hill.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is requiring companies that are applying for a sports wagering operator license to submit a scoping survey by next Monday, October 17th. This survey will ask for specific company information and provide the gaming commission with valuable information before the full applications are due.

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