PointsBet Withdraws Application to Offer Mobile Sports Betting in Massachusetts

PointsBet, a digital betting company first founded in Australia, is pulling out of the brand-new Massachusetts sports wagering market after working for months with regulators to launch a mobile sportsbook here, MassLive reported gaming regulators said Thursday.

It is the second time a company has publicly announced its intent to withdraw from the Bay State betting market, which just launched in-person wagering on Jan. 31 and plans to start mobile betting on March 10. Bet365 announced last month that it was dropping a bid to offer mobile betting connected to Raynham Park.

The withdrawal will leave another mobile betting license not tied to a land-based casino up for grabs, pending Massachusetts Gaming Commission approval. Regulators approved six untethered sports betting companies earlier this year to operate mobile or digital products in Massachusetts, and only five remain after PointsBet’s decision to leave.

It comes as some industry analysts offer a mixed outlook on the future of Massachusetts’ ability to retain all of the mobile wagering companies that originally sent applications to the Gaming Commission, whether tied to a brick-and-mortar operation or not.

MGC Executive Director Karen Wells said PointsBet communicated their intent to withdraw their application in a Wednesday night letter.

“That is a recent development,” Wells said, adding that the company had not submitted the $1 million temporary licensing fee nor requested a temporary license. Companies also eventually need to fork over $5 million to regulators upon receiving their full sports betting license. The company also paid a $200,000 application fee to the commission.

A PointsBet spokesperson said in a statement to MassLive that the company decided to withdraw its application to “emphasize our continued focus on our 14 live states of the US (plus Ontario) and how we can best optimize those markets which provide an immense [total addressable market] for us to go after.”

“We would like to thank the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for their consideration of our application, conducting extensive hearings, and deeming PointsBet suitable for licensure ahead of the launch of legalized sports wagering in the commonwealth of Massachusetts,” the spokesperson said.

In the Wednesday letter to Wells, PointsBet COO Johnny Aitken did not give a detailed reason for withdrawing the company’s sports betting application, though he acknowledged the “immeasurable efforts” of the Gaming Commission.

“PointsBet is withdrawing its business entity disclosure application submitted for consideration as a category three licensee and all related business entity disclosures and individual qualifier applications submitted on its behalf,” Aitken said in the letter, a copy of which was provided to MassLive by regulators.

SOURCE: MassLive.