Massachusetts Regulators Approve Online Sports Betting License for WynnBET

WynnBET's license is the first of several mobile sports betting permits that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission will approve in the weeks to come.

Geoff Zochodne - Senior News Analyst at Covers.com
Geoff Zochodne • Senior News Analyst
Dec 13, 2022 • 18:32 ET • 2 min read
Brad Marchand Boston Bruins NHL
Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

The first license to offer online sports betting in Massachusetts was approved Tuesday by state regulators. 

After one of their typically thorough meetings, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission unanimously gave the nod to a so-called “Category 3” license for WynnBET, albeit with some conditions, including a requirement for the operator to provide regulators with information regarding their use of women, minority, and veteran-owned vendors. 

Commissioners found WynnBET met the criteria for the license, freeing up the operator to apply for a temporary permit that could allow it to begin wagering operations as soon as possible. 

Still, WynnBET is the first operator to be approved for such a license in Massachusetts, which will allow it to run an online sports betting site in the commonwealth on behalf of Wynn Resorts' Encore Boston Harbor, which was also recently approved for a sports-wagering permit.

The license for WynnBET is "tethered" to Encore because the casino is a Category 1 licensee, allowing for in-person event wagering at the facility and through two digital platforms. WynnBET will be one of those Encore-connected platforms, which makes sense, as both entities have ties to Wynn Resorts. 

The other bookmaker that intends to be tethered to Encore is Caesars Sportsbook, although regulators ran out of time on Tuesday before they could rule on an application for the mobile betting operator. The five-member Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) will meet again on Wednesday and may address the Caesars application then.

“If any application discussion has not been completed by the close of business on its associated meeting date, the Commission anticipates it will conclude discussion at the beginning of the next available meeting date,” the MGC said in a blog post on Monday.

Tuesday’s progress continues to nudge Massachusetts towards the targets for launching legal sports betting in the state.

For in-person wagering at casinos, regulators are aiming for a late-January start. For statewide mobile wagering, an early March beginning is expected.

Members of the MGC also have some work left over from last week, when they deferred decisions on Category 1 applications for MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino. Decisions on those licenses were deferred due in part to the casinos’ ties with their mobile wagering partners and the desire on the part of commissioners to gather more information before ruling.

Some leftovers 

Wednesday’s MGC meeting is supposed to address the applications for MGM Springfield and BetMGM, which is proposing to be tethered to the casino for mobile sports betting. However, the Plainridge Park application will have to wait until next week, as the MGC has set aside the matter until Monday, December 19. 

“After that portion, the Commission is set to cover both Penn Sports Interactive’s and Fantatics’ applications for Category 3 Sports Wagering Licenses tethered to Plainridge Park Casino,” the MGC said. “This meeting may carry into Tuesday, December 20.”

The MGC has yet to tackle any applications for “untethered” Category 3 licenses, with seven of those potentially to be awarded to operators. Regulators have said they will get to those applications in January. There may be as many as 15 legal mobile sportsbooks in the state when all is said and done. 

Pages related to this topic

Geoff Zochodne, Covers Sports Betting Journalist
Senior News Analyst

Geoff has been writing about the legalization and regulation of sports betting in Canada and the United States for more than three years. His work has included coverage of launches in New York, Ohio, and Ontario, numerous court proceedings, and the decriminalization of single-game wagering by Canadian lawmakers. As an expert on the growing online gambling industry in North America, Geoff has appeared on and been cited by publications and networks such as Axios, TSN Radio, and VSiN. Prior to joining Covers, he spent 10 years as a journalist reporting on business and politics, including a stint at the Ontario legislature. More recently, Geoff’s work has focused on the pending launch of a competitive iGaming market in Alberta, the evolution of major companies within the gambling industry, and efforts by U.S. state regulators to rein in offshore activity and college player prop betting.

Popular Content

Legal Canadian sports betting

Best Canadian betting sites Ontario sports betting
Covers 25 Years Logo Established in 1995,
Covers is the world
leader in sports
betting information.
Covers is verified safe by: Evalon Logo GPWA Logo GDPR Logo GeoTrust Logo Evalon Logo