STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN THE FISCAL YEAR that ended June 30, the Massachusetts Lottery brought in more revenue than ever before, paid out more in prizes than any previous year, and expects to return a record high profit of $1.176 billion for the state to dole out to all 351 communities as local aid, […]
Gambling
Posted inEconomy
A race to keep up – or to the bottom?
MARCH WAS “Problem Gambling Awareness Month” in Massachusetts, but for those in charge of the state lottery the gambling problem coming into the new year was that people weren’t doing enough of it. The lottery was seeing flat or declining sales in many of its games during the last half of 2022, which represented the […]
Posted inEconomy
A race to keep up – or to the bottom? Lottery bets big on $50 scratch ticket, online games.
MARCH WAS “Problem Gambling Awareness Month” in Massachusetts, but for those in charge of the state lottery the gambling problem coming into the new year was that people weren’t doing enough of it. The lottery was seeing flat or declining sales in many of its games during the last half of 2022, which represented the […]
Posted inGambling
Gaming Commission asks feds to shut down illegal gambling
GAMBLERS IN MASSACHUSETTS have a full menu of wagering options to choose from these days: physical casinos, sports betting in person or online, and the state lottery, which some officials are itching to bring online as well. One thing not on the menu, Bay State regulators want to make clear, is illegal gambling. Members of […]
Posted inGambling
Sports betting regulators confront licensing quirks
THERE’S AN ODD quirk in the law legalizing sports betting in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is allowed to license seven mobile sports betting apps, in addition to mobile apps that are tied to in-person gaming facilities like casinos and racetracks. But the law also lets the commission give an unlimited number of temporary mobile […]
Posted inGambling
A loud lament over the latest gambling embrace by state leaders
THERE WERE WHOOPS AND HOLLERS from DraftKings, the state’s casinos, and lawmakers as the state legalized sports betting earlier this month. For Les Bernal, it was not a moment to celebrate, but instead marked a new low in how far Massachusetts would go to draw in revenue by exploiting those most vulnerable to the addictive […]
Posted inGambling
Questions continue on lack of sports betting roll call in Senate
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SENATE PRESIDENT Karen Spilka on Monday defended the Senate’s decision to pass legislation legalizing sports betting without making individual senators’ votes known. Spilka for weeks had said she wanted to build consensus on the issue before bringing a bill to the floor. The voice vote approving the bill indicates at least […]
Posted inGambling
Senate passes sports betting on voice vote
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER YEARS OF DISCUSSION and pressure from both inside and outside the State House, the Massachusetts Senate voted Thursday to legalize sports wagering, but lawmakers will have to reconcile the many differences between the Senate’s bill and the one that passed the House last summer before any bets can be placed. […]
Posted inGambling
Lottery executive director leaving after 7 years
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR who has steered the Massachusetts Lottery through its most profitable years and pushed to modernize the agency is departing next month for a job in the private sector. Michael Sweeney, who has led the Lottery since 2015, informed Treasurer Deb Goldberg in a letter this week that he […]
Posted inGambling, Transportation
Legislation on the move: Sports betting, T governance, vote-by-mail
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE teed up a bill authorizing sports betting for debate on Thursday, marking the second time the House will weigh in on the policy. Lawmakers have been discussing sports betting since 2018, when the US Supreme Court overturned a federal prohibition banning it. In July 2020, the House passed sports betting legalization in […]