What a sweet little jackpot. According to a report released this week by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the state has collected approximately $127.77 million in total taxes and assessments from in-person and online sports betting operations since it legalized this highly addictive activity a little over a year ago.
But that windfall comes with a social cost that is still being calculated. As the Globe recently reported, Massachusetts spent nearly $12 million on problem gambling services in the last fiscal year — more per capita than any other state. As the Globe also reported, a growing number of young gamblers are among those showing up at mental health clinics and Gamblers Anonymous meetings. It’s illegal in Massachusetts for anyone under 21 to gamble online on sports. But where there’s a will, tech-savvy teenagers and adolescents are finding a way.
“Gambling is anything but painless when you take account of the cost of addiction and problem gambling,” the Rev. Richard McGowan, who teaches finance at Boston College and has written several books on the gambling industry, told me via email. “Once again the dilemma is: Can government benefit (from) and regulate an industry at the same time?”
The first instinct seems to be to maximize the benefit — to government. For example, Governor Maura Healey’s budget plan includes a proposal that would cut by half the percentage of casino gambling revenues earmarked for a public health fund devoted to helping problem gamblers. As a Healey administration official explained it to the Globe, shifting that money elsewhere is one of the “creative solutions” being explored to balance the 2025 budget in the face of lower than expected tax revenue from other sources.
The change would be a onetime cut to the amount deposited in the Public Health Trust Fund, with the money shifted to support local aid, transportation, education, and economic development and would not impact programming in fiscal 2025. Of course, until a budget is signed into law, it’s not a done deal. But this shows Healey’s thinking about how gambling revenue can be used, and it isn’t just about helping gamblers.
The history of Healey’s evolution on legalized gambling is worth recounting. When she was running for attorney general in 2014, she backed a state ballot question to repeal the state casino law, which ultimately failed. At the time, she said she opposed gambling as an economic engine, writing on a liberal blog, “I do not believe a modern economy that is focused on creating opportunities for every person can be built on gambling.” In that blog post, Healey said casinos can widen the income gap and disproportionately affect poor people and she expressed concern about the overall consequences of the addictive behavior it encourages.
However, once elected attorney general, she began moderating her tone and position. As a candidate for governor in 2022, she went all-in with sports betting, saying, “It is the way now.” She explained that change of heart by pointing to the consumer protections that were put in place for casino gambling, which she said would also come into play with sports betting.
Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has taken some steps to do that. When sports betting launched a year ago and the public was bombarded with promotions, she pushed for tighter restrictions on ads. Still, some believe the changes adopted by the gaming commission didn’t go far enough. Last month, Campbell also announced a partnership between government organizations and professional sports teams to come up with a program to fight the dangers of sports betting.
At her side was NCAA president Charlie Baker. As governor, Baker in 2022 signed off on legalized sports betting in Massachusetts — whose consequences for some were described as “gut-wrenching” at the press conference. Yet he still managed to praise himself because the state law he backed doesn’t allow so-called “prop bets” on collegiate games — wagers on individual players or specific events not directly connected to the outcome of a game. At the same time, Baker also acknowledged that people under the age of 21 are finding ways to bet. Detailed plans to take on the challenges outlined by Campbell and Baker have not yet been announced.
Of course, legalized gambling is not going away in Massachusetts. The people have spoken — and the state is benefitting from the revenue generated by it. According to the gaming commission, in addition to the sports betting revenue, the state’s three casinos have generated a total of $1.7 billion in total taxes and assessments since the first one opened in 2015.
As McGowan sees it, the money rolling in provides little incentive to rein in the gambling industry. “It is the classic case of the ends justifying the means,” he said.
In the end, the state becomes as addicted to gambling revenue as gamblers can become to gambling.
Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @joan_vennochi.