Massachusetts Sportsbooks Claim Small Percentage of Customers are Limited

After a failed first attempt, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) finally held the sports betting roundtable it wanted.

The MGC hosted a three-hour discussion on the practice of limiting sports betting customers. The talk included representatives from all eight of the state’s online sportsbooks, who shared details about their practices. All eight claimed that only a small percentage of bettors were affected by the practice but stopped short of offering transparency into how and when they do so. 

The roundtable was organized after the MGC saw an uptick in complaints from residents about being limited by sportsbooks. Many of those complaining were average bettors who were wagering relatively small amounts but still found themselves being limited after winning. 

According to the operators, they focus more on betting patterns than wager amounts when deciding when to limit players. However, they stopped short of providing further details about how those players were selected.

The MGC attempted to have this discussion a few months ago, but no active operators sent representatives, making the meeting a waste of time. That created tension between the two sides, which appears to have subsided.

Industry Experts Share Complaints About Operators

After the operators spoke, the MGC turned things over to a few industry experts they invited to speak. The group accused sportsbooks of using responsible gaming as an excuse to limit more bettors. 

“We shouldn’t take addiction, whether gambling addiction or their comorbidities, lightly, but I do have a concern when we’re having a specific talk about player limitations and responsible gaming issues have been so quickly cited by operators as a reason for engaging in these practices,” Prime Sports exec Joe Brennan Jr. said during the talks.

Those are serious accusations, given a recent report showing operators do not genuinely support responsible gaming. They accuse sportsbooks of excessive social media activity and use advertising loopholes to skirt regulations to protect bettors. That makes their excuse for limiting bettors flimsy at best if the report is to be believed.