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GPAC reviews $2.77 million FY27 research agenda focused on gambling impacts, youth and AI risks
Summary
At a remote GPAC meeting, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s advisory committee reviewed a proposed $2.77 million FY27 research agenda that expands multi-year work on social and economic impacts, adds a young-adult cohort study and funds anonymized player-data research, AI risk monitoring, and community-engaged projects.
The Gaming Policy Advisory Committee (GPAC) of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on May 5, 2026, reviewed a proposed FY27 research agenda that would invest an estimated $2.77 million in studies of gambling’s social, economic and public-safety effects.
Mark Vander Lindon, the commission’s director of research and responsible gaming, presented a structured agenda that builds on multi-year work led by Boston University and other academic partners. Vander Lindon said the plan includes a state-representative survey, an inaugural gambling-advertising media exposure index, economic surveillance briefs (employment, wages, spending), and targeted analytic briefs on financial well-being and social determinants of health tied to gambling behavior. “These deliverables will allow us to track exposure, economic trends and social harms in Massachusetts,” Vander Lindon said.
Dr. Bonnie Andrews, deputy director for the division of research and responsible gaming, summarized ongoing projects that provide context for FY27 work: Boston University’s multi-year social and economic research; UMass Amherst studies of at-risk students; work on conversion of gaming to gambling (loot boxes, free-play conversions); and a Grio brief on VIP programs and their implications for vulnerable players.
The FY27 agenda would also fund several other priorities: a cohort study focused on young adults (a principal driver of the budget increase), public-safety research including an assessment of casinos’ influence on sex trafficking and illegal markets, community-engaged projects on youth perspectives and addiction-recovery communities, and pilot studies on underage access to sports-wagering platforms with prevention best-practice recommendations. Vander Lindon said anonymized casino player data would be procured for at least one research project and stored with the UMass Donahue Institute for broader research access.
The agenda continues prior responsible-gaming work: an evaluation of the voluntary self-exclusion program, research on play-management tool uptake for wagering apps, and ongoing support for the UNLV-produced ‘‘bridge’’ behavioral-risk indicator database used to identify player risk with emerging AI tools. Vander Lindon said the commission proposes continued maintenance of the Massachusetts Open Data Exchange (MODE) and an emphasis on translating research findings to stakeholders.
Committee members asked for clarifications and additional studies. Several members recommended equity reflections in major briefs, a youth- and student-athlete–focused effort, a survey of school principals and athletic directors about student engagement in sports wagering, and additional studies focused on neurobiology, older adults’ online gambling behavior, and young adults not enrolled in college.
Chair Jordan Maynard and Commissioner Skinner said they view the work as central to the commission’s mission to regulate responsibly and to inform policymakers. Executive Director Dean Serpa reminded the committee that GPAC provides advice and that the input gathered would be forwarded to the full commission for final consideration.
Next steps: GPAC members will provide feedback to staff; the commission will consider comments and finalize recommendations as Mark Vander Lindon prepares a formal FY27 recommendation for the full commission. No final funding vote occurred at the GPAC meeting.
