Massachusetts Online Lottery Legalized for Late 2025 Launch

Posted on: July 30, 2024, 07:15h. 

Last updated on: July 30, 2024, 09:34h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

On Monday, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) legalized online lottery sales when she signed the state’s $58 billion budget package.

Massachusetts Lottery, online lottery, instant-win, online gambling
The Massachusetts Lottery, logo above, will make the jump online. Draw and instant-win ticket sales will be available on its website and app towards the end of next year. (Image: Massachusetts Lottery)

The move, which has long been mooted in Boston, will “allow the lottery to keep pace with its competition and reach a new audience,” according to Massachusetts State Lottery Commission Chair Deborah Goldberg. A portion of the revenues from the online lottery will, by law, go toward supporting the state’s early education and care programs.

The “competition” Goldberg refers to is sports betting, which Massachusetts legalized in August 2022. Lottery officials have in the past expressed concern that the state’s new online sports betting market will eat into lottery revenues.

Equal Footing

Lottery Executive Director Mark Bracken told MassLive Monday that transferring the lottery online and introducing new products like instant-win tickets will place it on an equal footing with sportsbook operators.

Instant-win tickets are the digital version of scratch-off tickets, but they often have the look and feel of slots, which could be controversial for a state that has been resistant to legalizing online casino games.

While the age requirement for retail lottery games will remain 18, players will have to be at least 21 to play online, as is the legal age for sports betting.

The Massachusetts Lottery’s fears of cannibalization from sports betting have proved to be unfounded thus far. In 2023, the first year it experienced competition from online sportsbooks, the lottery posted a record profit of $1.17 billion on revenues of over $6 billion. The online platform is expected to pull in another $100 million a year.

Supplier Sought

Bay Staters will have to wait a while before the online service is up and running. The lottery first needs to launch a procurement process to find a supplier. The good news is that the MA Lottery app and Mass Lottery website were built with the capability to accommodate a future online lottery, and they already have 350K registered, age-verified players.

Bracken estimates that the whole process will take about 16 months, which means the platform should be ready to go live before the end of next year.

Bracken also addressed concerns that the online lottery would eat into land-based retailer revenue. He explained that there are plans for a player rewards system that would drive online players to brick-and-mortar stores. Although the finer points still need to be worked out, he added he believes an online lottery could increase footfall in land-based stores.

“It’s really a win-win for everyone,” he assured MassLive.