After careful deliberation, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) on December 8 approved its first sports betting license. Of the three casinos going through the regulatory process, only Encore Boston Harbor passed muster, and by a 5-0 vote.
MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino still have unanswered questions.
The approval of Encore does not mean they can take bets now, said Masslive. The goal is to have them ready by late January.
“We can’t tell you how excited we are. We’re very pleased that we built the sportsbook when we did and that we finally get to open it and use it as a sportsbook,” Encore Boston Harbor Vice President Jacqui Krum said at the end of a day-long meeting.
Encore almost saw the vote postponed because of the relationship between the casino-hotel and WynnBET, a sportsbook operator. Wynn owns both companies. The commission sanctioned WynnBET as the first digital license on December 13. The company, like Encore, is part of the Wynn universe and will be tethered to the property.
Not only was WynnBET the first digital licensee, but it was also the first with conditions to address responsible gaming.
Commissioner Nakisha Skinner asked Encore Boston Harbor officials if they could answer questions about WynnBET’s compliance history and potential license suspensions or denials.
“That’s where I struggle with trying to understand where we draw the line, like what the fine line is,” Skinner said.
Krum said the casino is applying for a license, not WynnBET. The casino takes full responsibility for any issues that emerge, not WynnBET.
The commission earlier in the month had issues with Plainridge regarding Barstool Sportsbook, and with MGM Springfield regarding BetMGM. Penn Entertainment plans to purchase Barstool next year for $387 million. Founded a decade ago by Dave Portnoy, Barstool considers itself as a blog and website on sports and popular culture.
“When you have the same name and the same entity performing in dual functions, it is sometimes difficult to draw the line on where does the vendor become part of the suitability of the applicant,” Krum said.
Commissioner Brad Hill argued regulators needed to maintain a narrow focus on only the Encore Boston Harbor application, and not extend themselves to WynnBET as a vendor.
“That’s how I’m looking at this application,” he said. “And I feel very comfortable as the vendor for EBH, that we should move this particular application forward because I do believe that we are looking at a vendor.”
Encore’s Director of Sponsorships Joe Zarbano said the casino will offer 10 live betting windows at a WynnBET Sports Bar with a 123-foot-long video wall. The casino will also have multiple betting kiosks, including in the WynnBET kiosk room, a location Zarbano said will be an ideal place for a “thrill of the game sports bettor.”
“Given that Encore Boston Harbor will open as greater Boston’s only legal option to place a sports wager until the launch of mobile and category two venues, subject to the approval of the gaming commission, we are preparing a convenient and quick way for sports wagerers to place their wager without having to enter the casino,” Encore’s application said.
Zarbano said the area will have dedicated 15-minute parking steps away from the kiosks, and security and “full surveillance.”
But Commissioner Eileen O’Brien said she had concerns about the proposal, primarily with security protocols and cash transfers in the garage-based betting area.
“I still raise an eyebrow at putting it in that venue,” O’Brien said. “Not only just for sort of the best-in-class casino experience but also security issues, etc. And I do want to talk about that.”
Krum said there will be someone stationed in the so-called park-and-play area 24 hours a day to check IDs.
“I am happy to provide information on those security concerns. I’d prefer not to do it in a public setting for obvious reasons,” Krum said. “We have thought through it. We’ve had a lot of discussion about various potential security issues and how we might address those.”
In related news, regulators will take up Plainridge Park Casino’s application for a sports betting license when they meet on December 19.
After a hearing in which the commission left a decision pending as a result of concerns with Barstool Sports and Dave Portnoy, the agency will attempt to approve Plainridge for a Category 1 license, according to the Sun Chronicle.
If approved, the board will shift into a hearing on the suitability of Penn Sports Interactive’s and Fanatics’ Sportsbook applications for Category 3, or digital, sports wagering licenses tethered to Plainridge.
“This meeting may carry into Tuesday,” the commission said.
Not only was WynnBET the first digital licensee, but also the first with conditions to address responsible gaming, according to the Boston Herald.
“Madam Chair and members of the commission were honored by this outcome today and we look forward to being a collaborative partner with the Commission going forward,” Jennifer Roberts, vice president and general counsel for WynnBET said Tuesday.
“We’ve been spoiled by looking at other applications, where we’ve seen (diversity) percentages. It’s not really that I want to look at every vendor, I want to see percentages,” Commissioner Jordan Maynard told the Boston Herald.
That information must be furnished to the commission prior to taking a single bet.
“Commissioners put conditions on the awarding of this license, including WynnBET providing the MGC with information on the company’s current vendor diversity statistics and establishing goals on diversity spend in advance of operating sports wagering in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” the commission said in a release after the vote.
In other Massachusetts news, the commission is also weighing in on how to handle promotions in the tax situation. When the Massachusetts House passed the sports betting law, it included a clause permitting operators to deduct the cost of promotions from taxable income. The Senate version did not address it at all. When the two chambers went into conference to come out with a final legislation, the deduction was gone, replaced by nothing.
On December 12, the commission debated the issue. Operators rely on promos—free bets up to $1,000, for example—to attract customers, especially in the early weeks of going live.
How that money is handled has tax consequences as well as an impact on what the state takes out of the betting revenue, according to the State House News Service. Gaming regulators reached no conclusions Monday as to how they will treat, for tax purposes.
Anderson & Kreiger, the outside law firm for the commission, told the regulators to read the betting law as written.
“We believe that the better, but not exclusive, reading of the statute is that promotional play is included within a sports wagering operator’s gross sports wagering receipts,” Annie Lee of Anderson & Kreiger said.
Commission Chairwoman Cathy Judd-Stein agrees.
“The House language was clear, promo play was to be deducted. The Senate thought otherwise. And ultimately the bill that was signed into law by the governor reflected the position that the Senate took,” Judd-Stein said.
The House included the language allowing promo play to be deducted because “we were convinced at that time that would help the businesses or the licensees that were coming before us,” said Commissioner Brad Hill, who was an assistant minority leader at the time. But then he addressed the conference committee talks between the House and Senate that ultimately produced the state’s sports betting law.
“I feel like they’re listening. If they disagree with where they feel this is trending or where we vote, they absolutely have the capacity to come back in and change the statute accordingly,” O’Brien said.
