The Massachusetts Special Commission on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports Gaming, and Daily Fantasy Sports gave their recommendations for iGaming this week. The group announced they would favor the “omnibus” approach to online gambling legislation.
The Special Commission, which is comprised of 9 people from a variety of fields, included Massachusetts Senators Brice Tarr and Jennifer Flanagan, as well as Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby.
The Statehouse News, which reports on Massachusetts politics, wrote, “Most commission members who shared their points of view Tuesday indicated that they would favor the omnibus approach.”
What Is the Omnibus Approach?
The “omnibus approach” includes the governor choose an online gaming commissioner, who then would adopt policies to foster iGaming in the state. The governor would have 120 days to appoint a gaming commissioner. The new regulatory body would have two years to create new policies.
The Special Commission leaves to the governor and commonwealth’s legislature to determine whether the commissioner would oversee a wholly new entity or assign the iGaming duties to Chairman Stephen Crosby, who regulates land-based gaming in the state.
The commission’s recommendation comes after studying three different options: the legislative approach, the omnibus approach, or the wait-and-see approach. The third option is considered unfeasible, because online poker, online casinos, mobile gambling, and daily fantasy sports are emerging forms of gaming that cannot be ignored. Hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents already engage in desktop and mobile gaming, so the state needs to either regulate or ban those practices.
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts State Legislature attempted to pass an online gambling bill. The bill, which would have legalized online casinos and poker sites, received little attention from lawmakers. Daily fantasy sports laws received more attention from Attorney General Maura Healey, though DraftKings and FanDuel expressed concerns about certain regulations that Maura Healey suggested.
Sen. Rosenburg Wants to Review iGaming
In May 2017, Massachusetts Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said in a WGBH 89.7 Boston Public Radio interview, “Online lottery and online gaming are both issues that are being reviewed now to try to figure out how we manage the situation, so we don’t hurt the lottery.”
At the time, Sen. Rosenberg said he did not see Massachusetts online gambling passing through the legislature until 2018 at the earliest. Rosenburg cited the Special Commission’s report, which is expected to be released by the end of July at the latest.
A comprehensive bill is fraught with issues, because it involves the careful weighing of online poker’s issues (bad actors), entry fee limits in DFS gaming, clauses to legalize sports betting if the Supreme Court strikes down PASPA, and standard consumer protection issues. The omnibus approach is seen as a way to legalize and regulate online casinos, cardrooms, and DFS sites quickly. The regulators would adapt policies and regulations as they learned more about the issues facing those industries.
Massachusetts Lottery Opposes Online Gambling
An omnibus approach likely would be controversial. The Massachusetts State Lottery is concerned that online gambling might undermine lottery ticket sales, so lotto officials likely would oppose an unknown new regulatory agency.
Lottery Commissioner Anthony Salvidio said during the short period of time the 2017 online gambling was being considered, “What is it going to take for legislators to realize this, a complete collapse of the revenue of the Lottery before they get on this?”.
Opinion of Land-Based Casino Operators on iGaming?
The measure might avoid a lobbying effort from the state’s major casino operators, though that is hardly certain. Normally, land-based casino operators oppose online gambling legalization. Though brick-and-mortar license holders would be the ones with online gambling licenses, the operators prefer to have people walk into their billion-dollar gaming destinations.
In the case of Massachusetts casino operators, MGM Resorts supports online gambling in New Jersey and its Borgata brand is a leader in the industry. Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts is not a supporter of online gambling, though he once considered its advantages and is more neutral towards iGaming than Sheldon Adelson. In either case, online gambling is better advocated when casinos are on their best behavior, before the operators’ casinos are built and producing revenue.
Stephen Crosby: Online Gambling Chairman?
The role of Stephen Crosby might be controversial, as well. Crosby’s Gaming Commissioner would be a natural choice as the regulator for online gambling and daily fantasy sports. The Boston newspapers criticized Stephen Crosby during the land-based casino licensing process and he had to recuse himself from the process eventually.
To avoid the appearance that he was pushing for a plan that would increase his authority, Stephen Crosby expressely noted he was not calling for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to control online gaming. Instead, Chairman Crosby said he would accept such responsibility, but advocated the omnibus approach even if the authority went to another regulator.
