State Clears Super Bowl Coin Toss For Wagering

Commissioner Hill, Not Sportsbooks, Initiated Change, Which Prevailed 3-2

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday voted 3-2 to allow sports betting companies to offer wagers on one of the very first actions to take place at this Sunday's Super Bowl, the opening coin toss.

Though commissioners said none of the sportsbooks operating in Massachusetts has asked for the ability to offer coin toss bets, the split vote gives operators the authority to let bettors wager on the result of the coin toss (heads or tails), the coin toss winner (Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles), whether the coin toss winner will win the game, and whether the visiting team correctly calls the coin toss.

At around 1:30 p.m., Boston-based DraftKings was already accepting wagers on three of the four coin toss-related situations that the commission authorized. A $1 bet on the coin flip outcome could return $2 for bettors who pick correctly.

"This was an issue that we actually took up a year ago, and on a 3-2 vote it was decided that we would not allow these Super Bowl prop wagers. I think after witnessing last year's coin toss, and to my knowledge -- and please correct me if I'm wrong -- there was no problem with betting integrity that took place. I looked in all the jurisdictions and I Googled as many news articles as I could to see if any betting integrity [issues] took place," Commissioner Brad Hill, who made the motion Thursday, said. "There are other prop bets, like the Gatorade color over the coach, the national anthem length, and we, of course, decided we didn't want to go that far. But I think the coin toss is something we should be revisiting."

Commissioners Eileen O'Brien and Nakisha Skinner, both of whom were opposed to allowing coin flip betting a year ago, dissented again Thursday. Skinner raised issues with the process by which Hill brought the idea forward to be added to the catalog of events that can be bet on absent a request from a sportsbook. O'Brien voiced more policy-focused objections, including that no operator had made the request.

"The other part of the reason is we've had a number of non-compliance events where they're not even sure what's properly in the catalog or not. I'm not exactly for adding more, especially when they haven't asked for it. Nor am I particularly convinced it's going to drive up revenue, or am I concerned it's going to go into the black market, or people crossing the [state] line. When you talk to people in [responsible gambling] circles, most of the people going back into illegal markets are people being limited, not people on a small bet like this."

Commissioner Paul Brodeur, who has joined the commission since last year's vote on the topic, said he was in favor of allowing bets on the coin toss because "I think it is something that that a certain segment of the market is looking for."

"My sense is that it is very safe, not something that can be gamed," he said.

Chairman Jordan Maynard was also supportive of the idea "because I do think people are betting on that coin toss."

Hill said he was compelled to bring the idea up at Thursday's commission meeting after being heckled while working his weekend job as a basketball referee.

"Usually when you're running up and down the court, you're getting yelled at because you made a bad call. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I was running up and down the court and someone yelled from the stands, 'Are we going to be able to bet on the coin flip at the Super Bowl?' So I stopped immediately, looked right at him, and he was as serious as serious could be," Hill said. "I couldn't believe that I would be in my referee clothes and they would recognize me as a commissioner. And then only a few days later, I went to a local watering hole down in Ipswich, and I wasn't even in there five minutes, and another patron came and asked the very same question, if they would be able to bet on the coin toss."