Plainridge Park Gets Temporary Sports Betting License

Plainridge Park was granted a temporary Category 1 sports betting license by the MGC last Tuesday.
The casino and its operator Penn Entertainment were ordered to fully cooperate with the commission on a full suitability investigation on Barstool Sports as part of its temporary license.
MGM Springfield also received approval last Monday while Boston Encore Harbor was the first to receive a Category 1 license earlier this month.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission granted a temporary Category 1 sports betting license to Plainridge Park Casino on Tuesday, allowing it to offer in-person sports betting when the state launches its legal sports betting market in January.

Plainridge Park is the last among the state’s three casinos to receive its retail sports betting license and the only one to get a temporary one.

Plainridge Park Casino in #Plainville won conditional approval Tuesday for a temporary sports betting license, but will have to meet certain conditions. https://t.co/wuEwTG8Nn3 @PlainridgePark pic.twitter.com/kwCJOdxWgj
— The Sun Chronicle (@TheSunChronicle) December 21, 2022

While the MGC voted unanimously in favor of declaring Plainridge Park “preliminary suitable” for a Category 1 sports betting operator license, the casino, and its operator Penn Entertainment must fully cooperate with the commission’s Investigations and Enforcement Bureau as it conducts an investigation into Barstool Sports.

Said Commissioners Eileen O’Brien:

“What I am struggling with is marrying that brand with PPC’s sportsbook, which you have elected to brand Barstool, which you elected to do because it gave you the market share and everything else that came with Barstool Sports.”

O’Brien also told CBS Boston last Monday that she wants a “full suitability review of Barstool Sports”.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Penn Entertainment will be acquiring the remaining shares of Barstool Sports after initially purchasing 36% of the company in 2020. The retail sportsbook at Plainridge Park will be operated under the Barstool Brand.

Concerns With Barstool Sports and Dave Portnoy

Many of the commissioners’ concerts stemmed from a recent New York Times article that painted Penn’s acquisition of Barstool Sports as a “desperate double-down into degenerate gambling”. That article also criticized Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy for soliciting irresponsible gambling.

Part of the article read:

“Mr. Portnoy at times mocks the notion of gambling responsibly. He boasts that he typically wagers $25,000 a bet and as much as $500,000. He has encouraged fans to bet their “house, kids, family” on a single game. He has described gambling as “free money” and said it would be “wreckless” to not place a bet.”

Earlier this week, Snowden read a letter sent to the MGC last week, where he questioned the motive behind the article which he labeled as “factually inaccurate and where he defended Penn Entertainment’s commitment to responsible gaming.

Commissioners also questioned Snowden about Barstool’s reported violation of legal Ohio sports betting regulations last month. It can be recalled that Barstool Sportsbook promoted its upcoming launch during a live show at the University of Toledo.

Snowden owned up to the allegation and accepted that it was their mistake for not reviewing with Ohio regulators their plans for that day. He however denied that they were there to promote the sportsbook and sports betting. Penn Entertainment ended up getting fined $25,000 for the violation, pending a possible appeal.

All Three Massachusetts Casinos Have Their Retail Sport Betting Licenses

With the Massachusetts Gaming Commission granting of a temporary license to Plainridge Park, all three brick-and-mortar casinos in the state now have a retail sports betting license and will all be ready to join the state’s long-awaited in-person sports betting launch in January 2023.

One day before Plainridge Park got its license, the MGC awarded MGM Springfield its own Category 1 sports betting license. Like Plainridge, MGM Springfield also did not get its license easily as commissioners voiced out concerns that that state is not getting its full due from the casino and that it may have not been honest in its employment diversity status. Those issues were settled after MGM Springfield “tweaked” its application.

The third casino in the state, Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, was the first casino to receive a Category 1 sports betting license in the state. Unlike Plainridge Park and MGM Springfield, Commissioners did not have any issue with Encore’s application as they deemed that the casino’s application “could stand on its own” and that it was the “true” owner of the license with WynnBET clearly just a partner in its sports betting operations.