April 18, 2023
WGBH recently interviewed Jay Zagorsky, Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy, and Law discussing the first month of online sports gambling in the Commonwealth.
Massachusetts is releasing new revenue numbers from the first month of online sports gambling in the Commonwealth. The verdict is clear, mobile sports betting is much more popular than its in person counterpart. According to data released by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the state collected $9.1 million in taxes in the month of March. In that same month, retail sports betting brought in about $218,000. Zagorsky calls the numbers eye-popping and raises concerns about the ease of online gambling. The state may end up with a large number of problem gamblers in exchange for relatively little revenue. He states, “When you make things very easy for people, and most people, can’t say all of them, but most people have no impulse control, you end up with problems”.