Regulators in the Bay State on Thursday said they would schedule a future public meeting to again discuss MA sports betting limits.
No active MA sports betting operators showed up to a May 21 roundtable on the topic, with Bally Bet being the only participant.
Operators told the Massachusetts Gaming Commission they would appear at a future discussion, but only if it was operators-only. The MGC, however, wants to hear from bettors and responsible gambling advocates on the topic as well.
Limits to get MA sports betting regulation?
Discussions Thursday centered on the drafting of eventual regulations on limiting.
As part of those possible regulations, MA sportsbooks could be required to report quarterly on the number of bettors banned, and categorically why the bans occurred.
“Ultimately, there could be some regulations that come out of this,” MGC interim chair Jordan Maynard said. “What I would pose to the operators in public is: Do they want to be a part of the conversations that develop those or do you want to be reactive to whatever comes out? And I would hope that they want to be part of it.”
Why sports wagering operators bailed
At the time they collectively bailed, operators cited complexities in discussing a thorny issue in a public forum, along with the fact that participants representing the bettor perspective were professionals (a pair of whom representing the new group American Bettors Voice.
Commissioner Eileen O’Brien said those points were valid, “but that does not mean necessarily that what’s being said is not valid in the conversation.” O’Brien provided a synopsis of a sports bettors panel at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States.
“If you are doing well, they ban you. If you’re doing poorly, they pull you into VIP and they bankrupt you,” O’Brien said.
Skinner wants data on player limits
DraftKings Sportsbook has said publicly that it limits less than 1% of bettors.
Commissioner Nakisha Skinner requested more context to that data.
“I want to see case studies, if possible, around what those circumstances are. How did an individual come to be limited? Because we don’t know what’s out there,” Skinner said. “It’s all about transparency and fairness. What communication is provided to the bettor when they are limited?”
MA sports betting meeting will be civil
The MGC stated that the possible format of a public meeting would be the operators going first, followed by the bettors and responsible gambling advocates.
Not all questions will be known to the operators, though many were posed prior to their roundtable no-show. Maynard said that “no one is going to be abused in a commission meeting.”
He also cited the desire to understand how bettor limits are being treated internationally.
