Massachusetts land casino operators positive on online gambling legalisation

More detail has emerged from the Massachusetts Special Commission on Online Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports hearing last week (see previous reports) with particular emphasis on the support of land casino operators in the state,

Massachusetts legalisation proposals currently call for state licensing of online gambling to be confined to existing land casino operators, and spokesmen for all three of the licensed land casino operators in the state, Penn National, MGM, and Wynn, signalled their support or open minds on the legalisation issue.

Massachusetts Gaming Commission chairman Stephen Crosby also indicated his support for an omnibus approach to legalising and regulating all forms of online gaming, telling members of the committee:

“If you have a stable legal environment, where the law is clear and the parameters are clear and the rules of the road are clear, people will come here to develop new games. It could become another modest but real economic engine.”

Eric Schippers, speaking for Penn National, said:

“We at Penn National firmly believe that iGaming could provide an incremental benefit both to our company and to the Commonwealth … and could help us compete against neighboring jurisdictions.”

Seth Stratton, for MGM Springfield, referenced his company’s successful operation of online gaming in New Jersey and Nevada as examples of what can be achieved, whilst the Wynn spokesman, Jaqui Krum, said her company was open minded on the issue and would monitor the developing situation before deciding on whether to apply for licensing to go online in a legalised Massachusetts environment….but she insisted that licensing be restricted to existing land casino operators.

The more open minded posture adopted by Wynn may be significant, given owner Steve Wynn’s previously anti-online gambling approach, and follows his recent appointment of an experienced online gambling executive (Craig Billings) as CFO (see previous report).

Our readers will also recall that in 2013 Wynn filed licensing applications for New Jersey Online gambling operational activity, and was subsequently approved. However, he appeared to change his mind and said in 2014 that he would not be entering the sector.

Going back even further, at one point Wynn negotiated a deal with Pokerstars, only to withdraw following Black Friday.

The main point currently is that Wynn claims an open mind on the issue and will not obstruct legalisation attempts as they currently stand in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Special Commission on Online Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports plans further discussion on the issue on March 28.