Mass. gaming commission tackling fantasy sports betting
Courtesy Draft Kings
Boston-based Draft Kings is among the online fantasy sports gambling sites being reviewed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
When lawmakers return to Beacon Hill in January, another voice will have weighed in on the question of how to handle online fantasy sports betting sites like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said Thursday a "white paper" on the issue of online gaming will "certainly" be done by the time the Legislature returns to formal sessions in mid-January.
The white paper will be "a discussion of the issues involved in the possibility of regulating not only daily fantasy sports but all online, Internet-based electronic gaming technologies, however we end up trying to get our arms around that whole world of gaming," Crosby said.
Commission staff has begun drafting the paper and expects to edit the final draft between Christmas and New Year's Day, Crosby said.
Attorney General Maura Healey has proposed consumer protection regulations for the fantasy sports world, including a prohibition on players under the age of 21 and a ban on fantasy games based on college or amateur athletics. Healey's proposed regulations are scheduled for a Jan. 12 public hearing.
Legislative leaders agree daily fantasy sports ought to be regulated, but no specific legislative proposals have yet been brought forward.
Crosby described the commission's paper as "a really interesting project" and noted other states are likely watching closely as Massachusetts stakes out a course in the relatively new world of online sports wagering.
"The commonwealth, led first by the attorney general and now with the Legislature and us, is taking a fairly deliberate approach to this," Crosby said. "And other jurisdictions that are wrestling with this issue are hoping to see if we can come up with something interesting and useful and possibly extrapolatable to other venues."
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