Amid scandals in pro sports and rising public health concerns, should Massachusetts reconsider how tightly it regulates online betting and prop wagers?
A DraftKings employee in the lobby of their Back Bay offices. (Lane Turner/Globe Staff)
A string of high-profile scandals has put online sports betting under intense scrutiny, sparking debate about whether the industry’s rapid growth is outpacing the state’s ability to regulate it — and whether prop bets are creating new public health risks.
The latest controversy occurred on Nov. 9 when two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were indicted on charges that they took bribes to influence in-game outcomes that would help bettors win. Major League Baseball responded the next day, announcing that major sportsbooks — including FanDuel and Boston-based DraftKings — agreed to impose a nationwide $200 cap on “micro-bet” pitch wagers and to bar those bets from being bundled into parlays.
The NBA has faced similar controversy over sports betting. In October, two former Celtics draft picks – Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier – were indicted on separate illegal gambling charges. Rozier allegedly used private insider information to illegally help sports betters, while Billups was charged in a separate indictment for rigging underground poker games.
These incidents have intensified concern over prop bets — wagers on specific events or plays within a game that do not directly depend on the game’s final result – which public health advocates argue are uniquely addictive because of their rapid-fire nature and round-the-clock availability.
Many bettors and sportsbooks, meanwhile, defend them as harmless ways to make games more engaging — and the companies’ robust revenue from sports betting reflects their popularity. Since Massachusetts launched sports wagering in-person in January 2023 and online in March 2023, the state has collected about $339 million in total taxes and assessments from licensed operators, according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
At the same time, the broader gambling landscape is shifting. At a recent hearing of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, Wynn Resorts — the dominant casino operator in the state which operates Encore Boston Harbor — urged legislators against legalizing online casino gaming, or iGaming.
Representatives from Encore Boston Harbor warned that iGaming could exacerbate problem gambling, undermine brick-and-mortar casino business, threaten its 3,000 employees, and reduce the roughly $15 million it contributes monthly to in state gaming taxes.
Massachusetts already bans prop bets on college athletes, and lawmakers are now weighing a proposal to ban prop bets altogether.
We want to know: Is Massachusetts doing enough to regulate online sports betting? Do you think the state — or the sports-betting industry at large — should crack down on prop bets?
Tell us by filling out the form or e-mailing us at [email protected], and your response may appear in a future Boston.com article.
Is Massachusetts doing enough to regulate online sports betting?
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