Betway Meets Massachusetts Sports Betting Criteria, Will Not Launch in March

• Digital Gaming Corporation met or exceeded sports betting license criteria for its Betway platform
• Betway will not launch in March if awarded a full license
• Betway joins Bally Bet, FanDuel, DraftKings, and Betr as meeting license criteria

Digital Gaming Corporation, an international sports betting company, will be bringing its Betway online sports betting platform to Massachusetts, but not as early as expected.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) ruled the company met or exceeded criteria for an untethered Category 3 Massachusetts online sports betting license. Digital Gaming Corporation’s Betway online sports betting platform is currently live in eight states across the country.

The MGC will begin voting on untethered Category 3 license applications starting Jan. 18.

Massachusetts Bound, but Not in March

Digital Gaming Corporation, which was actually acquired by Super Group in early January, is currently live in more than 10 countries through its Betway online sports betting platform and online casino brands.

The company has approximately 4,000 employees and has 12 U.S. market access deals.

Super Group's holdings. Betway is its single-brand online sportsbook. Also has several online casino brands. pic.twitter.com/yX8JJxlxGc

— RLinnehanXL (@RLinnehanXl) January 13, 2023

The hearing was remarkably smooth as the commissioners had few questions about the operator’s responsible gaming strategies, marketing plans, and diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, all of which were sticking points for prior applicants.

The only eyebrow raising moment of the hearing was the declaration that Betway will not go live during the planned early March Massachusetts online sports betting launch.

“We will not be going live in March of this year as the rest of the market intends to, or has aspirations to,” said Bruce Watermeyer, Executive Vice President of North American Operations for Digital Gaming Corporations.

A date for a launch was not provided in public session, but was discussed with the MGC in executive session.

Applause for DEI Goals and Responsible Gaming

The MGC applauded the Betway platform for including its responsible gaming message directly at the top of its app, something it has requested of other operators coming into the Commonwealth.

“This applicant did take into consideration Massachusetts’ responsible gaming framework, which we appreciated. We are proud of our work,” MGC Chair Cathy Judd-Stein said.

Commissioner Eileen O’Brien pointed out that mock-ups of Betway promotions used the phrase “free bet” or “risk-free bet” throughout its copy. O’Brien asked if the operator would pledge to stop using that type of verbiage in its marketing material, as other operators have already agreed to do the same.

Watermeyer said the company has been moving away from those terms in its marketing and now uses the phrase “first bet reset” instead of “free bet” or “risk-free bet” for new users.

O’Brien commended the operator for having no data breeches in the U.S. and the safeguards it has in place to avoid such incidents.

“There was lots about this application that was stellar. We asked you for supplemental information, but I don’t want that to take away from the other parts of the application that we lauded on you earlier,” O’Brien said.

PointsBet Has Final Hearing

The MGC marches on and will host its final untethered Category 3 online sports betting license hearing with PointsBet on Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 10 a.m.

PointsBet hopes to join Betway, Bally Bet, FanDuel Sportsbook Massachusetts, Betr, and DraftKings Sportsbook Massachusetts as operators that have met license criteria to operator in Massachusetts.

The commissioners will begin final voting on license applications beginning Jan. 18.