Massachusetts Gaming Regulators Studying Online GamingAI Also Part Of Research Efforts |
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Massachusetts looks to become the latest state to at least consider legalizing online gaming. The Bay State’s gaming commission is currently studying the issue and seeking bids for research to study the impact online gaming could have.
“Two requests for proposals rolled out this month as part of the gaming commission’s research agenda,” Rhode Island Current reports.
“These research priorities, proposed by the Gaming Policy Advisory Council and approved by gaming commissioners, signal potential concerns and expectations for gaming’s evolution in the state – with the commission in the paradoxical position of overseeing an increasingly expansive gambling universe in the state while grappling with the harms of the addictive products.”
The two research efforts will focus on online gaming’s impact as well as the potential or artificial intelligence (AI) in the space, including for “marketing, player acquisition, and responsible gaming functionality/player health in the Commonwealth.”
The state has seen some major gaming expansion over the last decade-plus. That has included legalizing casinos, adding live and online sports betting, and recently seeing a push for online lottery sales.
The lottery effort stalled in the state senate, despite support in the house of representatives and from Gov. Maura Healey (D). Gaming commission representatives are hoping to get ahead of the next wave of gambling that may be possible in the state.
“Sports wagering has grown significantly since 2018,” Massachusetts Gaming Commission director of research and responsible gaming Mark Vander Linden said in a public meeting last year. “iGaming also is gaining a foothold in the United States.”
No exact details have yet been outlined as to what games would be legalized, but potentially adding online poker could add a state of almost seven million people to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which allows for shared liquidity among Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, Delaware, and West Virginia.
New York is also currently considering legalizing online poker and several other states have at least looked at the issue in recent months.
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