The road to a legal online casino market in Massachusetts became even longer Monday as the state launched its interactive lottery platform.
Expanding gaming beyond the lottery into legal casinos and sports betting has routinely been opposed by Deb Goldberg, state treasurer and chair of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. Now, the leading per-capita performing U.S. retail lottery has an online component to better compete.
“The launch of our online platform marks an exciting new chapter for the Lottery as we continue to evolve and meet the needs of today’s players,” Goldberg said in the release. “Online lottery will allow us to compete on a more level playing field in the state’s gaming marketplace and sales will help make childcare more affordable for families across Massachusetts.”
The launch means online casino operators will now have to lobby against cannibalization concerns of actual results from the online lottery. The lottery uses profits to fund a grant program for early childhood education and care.
Mass Lottery Online offering
The description of some of the instant games available at launch on the Aristocrat-powered platform sound a lot like an online slot game.
Some of the 20 games available at launch feature “cascading or tumbling symbols that result in instant winning experiences when a cluster of symbols match.” Other games require the player to match numbers or find symbols, which resembles traditional lottery scratch-off tickets.
The eInstant games can be played at stakes from 50 cents to $50. The platform will launch a new eInstant game every two week. Other games, including virtual horse racing, will launch later this year.
There are also two online-only draw games available alongside the option to buy tickets for traditional draw games including Mega Millions and Powerball.
Goldberg: protect lottery revenues
Goldberg has been concerned about expanded gaming’s impact on lottery for more than a decade, dating back to before Massachusetts had retail slots and casinos.
Amid the crackdown on DraftKings and FanDuel‘s daily fantasy contests in late 2015, Goldberg said the lottery should launch its own daily fantasy platform.
In 2022, Goldberg wanted the incoming sports betting operators to be willing to work with the lottery, including cross-promotion, to limit the impact on the lottery’s revenues.
Online casino talks punted to 2027
Discussions around online casino legalization did not get very far into 2026. Legislators eventually decided to continue the discussion in 2027. Rep. David Muradian intends to re-file his legislation next year.
Goldberg said in December the lottery would struggle to compete with online casino sites, even with iLottery live.
“We won’t be able to compete in terms of advertising,” Goldberg said. “So I, right now, am firmly against iGaming. They may not like me for that, but I gotta think about the people of Massachusetts, and that’s my top priority.”
Massachusetts would be the fourth state in New England to legalize online casinos. Platforms are live in Connecticut and Rhode Island, while Maine intends to launch around the start of next year.
