Online sports betting can launch in Massachusetts just in time to place a wager on March Madness, according to a timeline sketched out by gaming regulators Thursday.
“I’m proposing a tentative launch date for the category 3 mobile operators, or online operators, of March 10th,” Massachusetts Gaming Commission Executive Director Karen Wells advised commissioners. “The recommendation is that we start at 10 a.m.”
The gaming commission launched in person sports betting at the end of January but had expressed the need for more time to consider the rules around mobile licenses.
They previously set a broad deadline to allow mobile operators to begin taking bets sometime in March but were clear they would not move faster than necessary, even if it meant missing a large event.
On Thursday, Commissioners learned from their executive director that, barring a few final administrative matters, the state should be able to allow bets in time for the NCAA’s much anticipated college basketball tournament.
“It gives us the weekend if there are any issues before March Madness starts,” Wells said. March Madness will begin on the 14th.
“Right now that’s the date we’re shooting for and I know folks would like some advance notice so they can plan,” she said.
Sports betting was made legal last summer, finally catching Massachusetts up to the mass of states and District of Columbia in allowing adults over the age of 21 to bet on sports.
The law allows betting on most professional and college contests, with the exception of games involving Massachusetts university teams not playing in large tournaments. Betting on Olympic events or any sport decided by a judge were also prohibited.
Three casinos, Encore Boston Harbor, in Everett, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park Casino, in Plainville, have been taking in person bets since January 31. The casinos, through mobile partners, as well as Bally’s Interactive, FanDuel, Betr, DraftKings, Digital Gaming Corporation USA, and PointsBet Massachusetts, have been given license by the commission to take bets online.
The March 10 start date is only a conditional recommendation, subject to the mobile operators compliance with the state’s newly authored regulations, Wells said.
“I want to note, (Director Wells), you said tentatively March 10,” Commission Chair Cathy Judd-Stein added. “I think we’re going to swing back on this issue to confirm that next week or in the next couple of weeks.”