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.
WynnBET has been conditionally approved to apply for a temporary online sports betting license in Massachusetts. See you soon, Bay State!
— WynnBET (@WynnBET) December 13, 2022
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.
