The Massachusetts-based Public Health Advocacy Institute has scored a significant gambling-related victory for state residents.
On July 23, the PHAI announced that it “resolved” a 2024 lawsuit against state gambling regulators involving a statutory requirement to share certain behavioral data with academic researchers.
The lawsuit sought to compel the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to collect behavioral data from state-sanctioned casinos, anonymize it, and then share it.
According to the PHAI, the state’s 2011 Expanded Gaming Act mandated the MGC to do so. “Yet, for more than a decade, the Commission failed to collect any data from any licensee or make such data available to researchers,” the PHAI said in the press release.
In 2025, Massachusetts commercial casinos won $2.06 billion from players, up 10.9% over 2024 and a state all-time high, according to data from the American Gaming Association. That was nearly two percentage points higher than the national average among commercial casino states in 2025.
Why it Matters
The data could help inform solutions to reduce gambling-related harm in the state. It could also provide evidence that policy proposals to legalize online casinos are unwise from a public health perspective.
According to the PHAI, the MGC entered into a contract with the University of Massachusetts to “store and anonymize the data in 2025 and also began collecting the data from casinos.”
Researchers can apply for data access, the PHAI said.
“Mission accomplished!” said Jacob Wolk, the PHAI attorney who drafted the 2024 lawsuit. “We are pleased to join with the Commission today in asking the Court to dismiss the lawsuit, because it has achieved its entire purpose.”
According to PHAI Executive Director Mark Gottlieb, the resolution of the MGC lawsuit is part of a larger process to improve public health related to gambling.
“This kind of player data should now be collected from sports gambling companies, whose business in Massachusetts has exploded since sports gambling was legalized in 2023,” Gottlieb said. “At PHAI, we look forward to working with the Massachusetts legislature to ensure that a similar statutory obligation to share player data, of the kind included in Sen. Keenan’s Bettor Health Act (S.302), is imposed on sports gambling operators here in the Commonwealth.”
In 2025, Massachusetts-sanctioned sportsbooks won $865.2 million from users, according to the American Gaming Association.
PHAI’s work also includes several civil lawsuits over alleged business misconduct involving sports betting operators, including DraftKings and FanDuel.
The organization is also a driving force behind the federal SAFE Bet Act, which would establish minimum regulatory standards for online sports betting.
