Massachusetts Online Lottery Launch Potentially Delayed Until 2026

By Jessica Whitehouse,
Editor at online-gambling.com

Jessica Whitehouse Editor at online-gambling.com

Jessica Whitehouse is a content expert and editor from Santa Monica, California. At online-gambling.com, she focuses on roulette, blackjack reviews, lottery, and casino payments. Whitehouse is also our leading go-to expert in online gambling in South Africa. In addition, she provides the photo materials for most articles on the site.

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Last updated: October 29, 2024

The launch of the highly anticipated Massachusetts online lottery platform, originally planned for the end of 2025, may now be pushed back to early 2026. Just this year, the Bay State legalized the online lottery and included it as part of its 2025 fiscal year budget. The required funding of $2.5 million is expected to be received between November and January.

Unfortunately for Massachusetts residents, this means a delay of the launch of the lottery. According to state officials, the development and implementation of the platform will take approximately 16 months. In other words, we can expect it to go live in early 2026. Stay tuned for more on that and the current online lottery options in the state.

Delays Due to Platform Development

The Massachusetts iLottery platform has to be developed, tested, and approved before it’s released to users statewide. It’s essential that the site meets regulatory requirements and standards, and all of that takes time. Lottery officials had estimated this time to be approximately 16 months, and the initial launch date was scheduled for around the end of 2025.

“Our noses are to the grindstone, we’re trying to identify the right people through the [request for proposals] process to plan, address and get it online. Because once we go online, we want it to be perfect,” – said Treasurer Deb Goldberg, who chairs the Lottery Commission.

At a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce event earlier this month, Lottery Executive Director Mark William Bracken said that now the launch is projected to happen in April 2026. The change is related to a delay in the release of the budget for the project until somewhere between November 2024 and January 2025.

Hopefully, this will happen sooner rather than later, as everyone is already holding their breath in anticipation. It’s expected that $100 million revenue from the Massachusetts online lottery will be used to fund early childhood education and care grants. It’s also expected that the net-profit from online lottery sales will reach up to $360 million within a 10-year period.

Current Digital Lottery Options

As of writing this article, Massachusetts residents can participate in lottery games through legal online lottery couriers. Just recently, lotto.com launched in The Bay State, allowing you to order official state lottery tickets for popular draw games such as Powerball, Mega Millions, and Mass Cash directly through your phone or computer. It also introduced Massachusetts’ first-ever digital scratch tickets. Jackpocket and Jackpot.com offer similar services.

The Future of Massachusetts Online State Lottery

We are yet to see the launch of the official Massachusetts online state lottery and the realization of its full potential. Hopefully, it will have a predominantly positive effect on the region, resulting in additional funding for key sectors, including early childhood education and care.

With the legalization of online sports betting in the state back in 2022, we’ve seen a shift towards digital transformation. As the US gambling industry continues steady growth, we’re yet to see if Massachusetts will make further steps in that direction.

For now, we’ll keep you posted on the topic of The Bay State iLottery. Massachusetts officials’ main concern remains creating a well-regulated and safe gambling environment for players. So, we also urge you to always approach such activities with utmost caution.