New research conducted by Spectrum Gaming Group and the Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health on behalf of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission recommends that the state does not implement a sports betting kiosk program for retail locations.
The study concluded that kiosks in locations like restaurants and bars would offer essentially no economic benefit and potentially significant financial and societal costs, including crime, regulatory burdens and risks associated with underage and problem gambling. Spectrum said this “may not be rationalized by the expected low participation and minimal revenues associated with kiosk wagering.”
“It is uncertain whether kiosk program participants in Massachusetts – hosts, vendors and the Commonwealth – would experience the economic benefit needed to justify the costs and efforts that we believe would be required to support such a program and ensure its commercial viability,” the report said.
The study focused on three jurisdictions that offer sports betting kiosks in retail locations, including Ohio, Montana and Washington, D.C., where gambling giant Caesars recently installed 48 self-service kiosks. Spectrum found that Ohio spends more than twice as much overseeing the kiosk program ($650,000) than the kiosks generate in revenue ($305,000).
