Massachusetts considers online gambling

The local commission said that they’re studying the industry and that they could release a report this week.

US.- The Massachusetts Gaming Commission said that they’re studying the online gaming industry to be able to regulate it in the future. Whilst the commission is set to release a report this week, it will likely take them a few more days to come up with the final release.

Stephen Crosby, Massachusetts Gaming Commission chair, said that they believe there is a real opportunity for the state in online gaming: “There’s an opportunity not only to break new ground, but to create an economic driver that would pay real dividends for the Commonwealth.” According to WWLP, one of the solutions that they’re considering is to regulate the online industry with similar conditions to the casino market. This way they would allow players to gamble responsibly and under games that are properly taxed.

Earlier this year State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg introduced a bill that would authorise the Massachusetts State Lottery to offer online games. She believes that the legalisation would be a good way to modernise the system. “I had to come around to this thinking because I myself hadn’t thought about online lottery games, but I saw the way millennials are operating is really online. This past Christmas shopping season, Cyber Monday outperformed Black Friday. We really want to be prepared to have a more modern, forward-thinking product,” she had said. Goldberg admitted that her idea is to boost the US$965 million that the state is gonna get from lottery revenue by allowing people to use the lottery online or with a smartphone.