After a couple of public roundtables, as well as a mission to solicit public feedback, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) is now taking action when it comes to sportsbooks limiting bettors.
During a Nov. 21 meeting, MGC staffers proposed its plan to the five commissioner about how they would like to proceed on the issue.
Operators appeared at a September MGC roundtable and argued that the percentage of bettors impacted by limiting is extremely small, amounting to less than 1%.
While operators presented some data during this discussion, the MGC would like more concrete information about who is being impacted. Accordingly, the regulator is going to request player data connected to the practice from state sportsbooks.
Staffers described the data request as “detailed” and “narrow”.
“We would formulate such a data request to seek specific player data from which our team could deduce (1) the percentage of their players that they limit (2) how many players are being limited and exhibit winning behavior and (3) how many players are being treated as VIPs and exhibit losing behavior.”
The proposal would keep the data confidential so as to protect potential trade secrets around limiting practices and to help operators feel at ease with providing the information.
Commissioners unanimously approved the data collection plan.
Once the data is collected, MGC staffers will analyze it and put forth potential new regulations and solutions to address the wave of customer complaints the MGC has received.
One potential regulation floated in past discussions would be some sort of mandatory disclosure to patrons when they were being limited.
Should the five commissioners agree with potential new regulations, they would be open to a public comment period for operators and patrons before the group takes a vote on adopting official language and the regulation taking effect.
To date, Massachusetts is the only regulated U.S. sports betting market to investigate the issue of limiting bettors.
