As Massachusetts prepares to launch sports betting in the state at the end of January 2023, state gaming regulators are making sure they are leaving no detail to chance.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) met last Thursday to approve dozens of regulations involving the two facilities that hold licenses for sports betting, Suffolk Downs and Raynham Park.
The MGC, which consisted of five members, heard several issues regarding the launch, including the independent labs that inspect wagering equipment.
One sticking point popped up during the meeting—the commission stalled on how best to enforce underage betting. MGC Commissioner Eileen O’Brien was concerned that horse racing tracks would not be able to separate bettors over and under the age of 21. Anyone 18 and over can bet on horse racing.
“That demographic is right in the heart of who is most vulnerable,” said O’Brien at the meeting. “So this is a big red flag for me. Where are we going to draw the line, and how hard is that line going to be?”
MGC Executive Director Karen Wells told the commission that some of the provisions to ensure no one under 21 could make a sports wager including security checkpoints, surveillance cameras, and requiring bets be taken by cashiers, not machines.
Wells added that there are security protocols in place at the race track to make sure no one under 18 makes a wager on the horses. MGC staff member David Mackey said that a regulation could be added to state that no one under 21 could even enter a sports wagering area to use a kiosk.
O’Brien wasn’t swayed and ordered members of the MGC to come back to a November 16 meeting with a more solid plan.
“So either bar it, and say it can’t be in there at all, or we come with language that says you have to wall it off,” O’Brien told the commission. “I don’t know what level of detail is minimally acceptable there.”
