Fanatics Sportsbook and Betr each took one more step down the road to offering legal wagering Tuesday in Massachusetts when the state gaming commission approved Fanatics’ House Rules and issued Betr a certificate of operation. Both companies already have temporary licenses and are preparing to launch digital platforms.
Fanatics, which is beta-testing its in-house proprietary platform in Ohio and Tennessee, is also licensed in Maryland, where it opened its first brick-and-mortar sportsbook at FedEx Field in January. The next step for the company in Massachusetts will be receiving its certificate of operation, the final stage before a platform can launch in the state. Fanatics Sportsbook has pointed to May as a potential launch month for Massachusetts, though based on its actions in Ohio and Tennessee, it’s likely the company will instead be beta-testing in the Bay State at that point.
Fanatics has not released go-live dates for anywhere in the U.S., but last week obtained a peek at what its sportsbook platform, built on Amelco code, looks like. CEO Michael Rubin is promising an experience to rival that of industry leaders DraftKings and FanDuel.
“You'll measure that based on the app score, you'll measure that based on customer satisfaction,” Rubin told' editor Abe Madkour at a conference earlier this month. “I think we'll have a great product by the end of the year. I think we'll have a product that's every bit as competitive as FanDuel and DraftKings. Those are two really good products – that's what my team is telling me and I believe we can.”