DraftKings Appeal Rejected Laws & Regulations

DraftKings Appeal Rejected by Massachusetts Regulator

By Lisa Spencer Senior Editor Updated: 07 November 2022

Lisa Spencer Senior Editor

As a Senior Editor at Betting.US, Lisa Spencer is a valuable member of our expert team. With a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics, Lisa is adept in gambling theory and analyzing odds. She contributes by writing online sportsbook reviews and finding competitive markets to help our readers make an informed choice.

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It has been reported that an appeal that was launched by the sports betting giant DraftKings relating to the launch of online sports betting has been rejected by the gaming regulator in Massachusetts.

The appeal related to the simultaneous launch of retail and online sports betting in the state, which DraftKings was pushing for, but it has been turned down by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

It was reported late last week that the gaming commission has decided to stick with its original schedule to launch retail sportsbooks in the state a couple of months before online sportsbooks will be able to go live.

This will come as a disappointment to DraftKings as well as to other online sportsbook operators as they stand to miss out on some of the key sports events on the live sporting calendar as a result of the later launch.

An Unfair Advantage for Land-Based Casinos

DraftKings is concerned about the unfair advantage that land-based casinos will get from being able to launch two months earlier than online sportsbooks. The plan is to launch retail sportsbooks in late January and then online sportsbooks in March.

However, this means that online sportsbooks will miss out on the end of the football season, the Super Bowl, and possibly March Madness depending on whether the launch goes to plan. This could be very damaging for the online operators, while retail sportsbooks will be able to cash in on the busy sporting schedule with the earlier launch.

In its appeal to the gaming commission, DraftKings wrote:

We write to ask that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission reconsider the publicly communicated timelines for launching sports wagering in the commonwealth to allow for retail and mobile operators to go live at the same time.

The operator went on to state that it was clear the decision relating to the timeline was not about policies but because the commission believed that it would be too challenging to “promulgate regulations in a timely manner.”

Mobile Betting Will Take Longer to Regulate

According to reports, the gaming commission believes that it will take longer to get regulations and framework into place for mobile betting than it will for retail betting. This is one of the key reasons it has decided not to go for a simultaneous launch and plans to launch online sports betting at a later date.

Officials from the commission have said that around 225 new regulations will need to be drafted, reviewed, and adopted before online sports betting can go live, and this will take up a lot of time.

They said that it could take months to complete this process and that this makes it unviable to aim for a launch at the same time as retail sports betting.

The commission has said, however, that everything is going to plan in terms of the schedule at present, and that the launch of sports betting in the state was continuing to ‘gain steam’. Sports fans across the state should, therefore, be able to look forward to access to sports betting facilities within a few months.