Betr Won’t Launch In Massachusetts Tomorrow

Betr, the micro betting-focused sportsbook backed by Jake Paul, won’t launch on Friday in Massachusetts as initially planned.

The announcement came from Chair Cathy Judy-Stein during the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) ‘s Wednesday meeting. It was one of the last get-togethers of Massachusetts regulators before the scheduled launch of Massachusetts online sportsbooks on Friday.

The commission will meet again to discuss various issues. The final step, and the most important one, is the vote on operations certificates to allow online sportsbooks to launch.

Betr needs more time to launch in Massachusetts

Betr anticipated being among the sportsbooks launching on the first day of online sports betting in the Bay State. But the company said they needed more time to refine the user experience in Massachusetts.

As they said in a statement:

“At Betr, it is our priority to give our users the best possible experience while using our app. As we continue to work to ensure we can deliver that in Massachusetts, we now
plan on launching sometime over the next month, rather than this Friday.

We want to thank the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for all of their hard work and collaboration. This is an important milestone for us and we can’t wait to bring our differentiated product experience to sports fans throughout the state.”

Which Massachusetts online sportsbooks will go live on Friday?

The MGC set Mar. 10 as the launch date for legal Massachusetts online sports betting. With Betr out of the picture for now, only six Massachusetts online sportsbooks are anticipated to go live on Friday. These are:

1. Barstool Sportsbook
2. BetMGM
3. Caesars Sportsbook
4. DraftKings Sportsbook
5. FanDuel
6. WynnBET

As Betr told Legal Sports Report, the launch would come sometime in April.

Bally Bet and Fanatics Sportsbook plan to go live in May, while Betway is eyeing Q1 2024.

Ten online sports betting operators are expected to launch in Massachusetts, while the current law allows up to 15.

The commission discussed regulations to void bets

While finalizing online sports betting rules in the Bay State, Massachusetts regulators discussed regulations to void bets. Multiple commission members said they are unhappy with sportsbook operators voiding bets independently.

Commissioner Eileen O’Brien was one of them. She questioned the level of accountability given to sportsbooks for their power to void bets placed on an event with incorrect odds. O’Brien said that if a sportsbook offers a bet with incorrect odds, and a user accepts it, they shouldn’t be able to void it.

She said she would like to see those regulations come before the commission. Representatives for operators attending the call said that would be fine even though preferring the ability to void at will.

The commission will meet to make the changes and approve the house rules.