Casino Owners Divided Over Legalization of Massachusetts Online Gambling

Owners of land-based casinos are divided over the idea of legalizing Massachusetts online gambling in existing licensed casinos.

In US gambling news, with new resort casinos set to open soon in the state, Senate Minority leader Bruce Tarr is looking to authorize Massachusetts’ Gaming Commission to grant licenses to land-based casinos for online betting. He believes that by giving both the new and existing casinos an online expansion, the floundering industry will become more popular and revenue will increase significantly. By extension, state and local governments would also profit due to a boost in taxes.

Should casinos in the Bay State be permitted online operations, they would be the fourth state in the US to do so. Tarr says that he is pushing the Massachusetts online gambling bill because he doesn’t want Massachusettsian casinos to continue to be “undermined by other states” that allow online gambling.

There is good reason for Tarr’s haste. Several new regional resort casinos and a slots parlor are expected to be up in running soon, including a 24-story resort along the Everett waterfront that will be owned and operated by Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn, and an $800 million casino from MGM Resorts International in Springfield. In addition, there is currently stiff competition among casino operators for a license in the South Shore area.

Legalized Massachusetts online gambling could draw away casino customers, exacerbate gambling addictions

While the land-based casino industry in the Bay State is booming, casino operators are divided over the idea of legalizing Massachusetts online gambling. While some are interested in tapping into and profiting from the internet gambling in US industry, others worry that it’ll drain revenue from non-gambling amenities available in casinos such as food and entertainment.

Chris Moyer, a spokesman for the American Gaming Association, said that “There’s varying interest from the industry. There’s some who view it as a way to attract more people, and others who see it is as possibly decreasing the number of customers to land-based casinos.”

There is also worry concerning the effect legalized Massachusetts online gambling would have on those with gambling addictions. A recent Cigna Foundation study suggested that 7.5% of Massachusetts residents—approximately 350,000-430,000 adults—are already at risk for gambling addiction, and easy access to online gambling could potentially their condition.

Says Krystle Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling: “Our concern is that this would make gambling easier and more accessible. Are we making it easier for people to fall deeper and deeper into trouble?”