The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has rejected a proposal to allow betting on the Boston Marathon. The commission made the decision in a meeting Thursday, 11 days before the race, after receiving a request from DraftKings and a letter from marathon organizers opposing the action.
The Boston Athletic Association, the nonprofit that organizes the race, asked the commission Wednesday night to deny the proposal because the group was not consulted on the request.
“Without time to undergo analysis and proper due diligence, we are concerned about how such an expedited approval would potentially impact the event,” BAA Chief Marketing Officer Scott Stover said in the letter.
Stover added that the organization was concerned about the safety and security of the event, as well as potential influence on the race outcome if wagering were to be allowed.
DraftKings, a Boston-based online sports wagering company, asked to add the Boston Marathon in a special events category and allow betting for the top 20 professional women and men in the race and by winning time.
The commissioners on Thursday agreed that the request from DraftKings should not be passed because of the lack of communication between the betting company and the BAA.
Commissioner Eileen O’Brien added that the commission needed to make sure they knew more information about the request process for betting before allowing the addition to the state’s catalog, but she would oppose this request because of the BAA’s letter.
“My expectation would be that an operator would reach out to the governing body,” O’Brien said. “The Boston Marathon, in particular, what it means to the city — and on this year, 10 years out from the tragedy — I am disappointed, to say the least, that the local operator did not in fact do that.”
Commissioner Jordan Maynard said it was unreasonable for the BAA to come to an agreement with DraftKings to allow betting on their event with few days before the race.
“There's few greater events than the Boston Marathon and it's nationally known, but in the commonwealth it's very local and it underpins a local holiday,” Maynard said. “And I'm going to respect this local organization’s requests to be included in the process that could potentially ever allow wagering on their event.”
“I am absolutely inclined to listen to the organizers of the event who have said even needing to respond to this is a distraction for them in getting ready for something that's going to be happening in a matter of days,” O’Brien said. “For me, this is not even a question that this shouldn't be put into a catalog at this point.”
The commissioners voted against betting at the Boston Marathon 4-0, but said the proposal could possibly be revisited in a future year.
