Following the first hints of an omnibus approach to online gaming that were presented in late 2015, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) is once again making moves towards regulating online casino games and daily fantasy sports.
The MGC has voted to have Chairman Stephen Crosby appointed to a special panel that would study all real-money online gaming opportunities and explore the ever-changing and evolving gambling landscape.
So far Massachusetts have had what amounts to some oversight on daily fantasy sports, but the state does not get any tax revenue from the contest.
Should the gambling legislation be passed through an “omnibus regulatory bill”, the situation would change.
The omnibus approach has not been adopted in any other state up to this point with regulators usually opting to take a piecemeal approach to online gambling.
Massachusetts regulators want to encompass all online gambling verticals and provide more effective legislative system that would create tax revenue, provide consumer protection and bolster the land-based casino industry and lottery.
The first meeting of the MGC panel is due to take place before 1 November, and the panel will have until 31 July 2017 to submit the findings and recommendations on a variety of factors, including the positive and negative economic impacts for the state.
