How the 2011 law shaped Massachusetts racinos
The Expanded Gaming Act, signed in November 2011, did not set out to build racinos. It split the state into three regions, each allowed one resort casino taxed at 25 percent, and added one Category 2 slots parlor with no live table games and a cap of 1,250 machines. The parlor license was open to any site.
Three bidders chased it: Plainridge, a Cordish plan in Leominster and Raynham Park, a former greyhound track. The racetrack won on February 28, 2014, partly because the commission wanted to keep harness racing alive. That choice is why the state’s lone slot parlor is also its one racino, an outcome the what is a racino guide describes as typical.
The Gaming Commission and the 21 rule
The same act created the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, five appointed members who license casinos, staff and vendors and audit revenue every month. Sports wagering came under the commission in 2022, and Plainridge opened a retail sportsbook on January 31, 2023. Unusually, the commission also runs racing, through a division that licenses horsemen and supervises every Plainridge meet.
Every casino floor in Massachusetts is 21 and older, and the age is checked at the door rather than at the machine. The commission publishes a separate monthly revenue report for each licensee, which makes Plainridge one of the easiest racinos in the country to follow. The state helpline for anyone worried about gambling is 1-800-327-5050.
The one racetrack with slots
| Venue | City | Racing | Gaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plainridge Park Casino | Plainville | Harness, April to November | 900+ slots, electronic table games, sportsbook |
Plainridge Park Casino sits off Interstate 495 at U.S. Route 1, about 40 minutes from Boston. PENN Entertainment operates it, and Gaming and Leisure Properties has owned the real estate since 2018. Dining runs from Slack’s Oyster House & Grill to a food court with Wahlburgers, and there is no hotel. The 2026 meet runs 110 days.
Casinos that are not racinos
| Casino | City | License | Opened | Racing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MGM Springfield | Springfield | Category 1, western region | August 2018 | None |
| Encore Boston Harbor | Everett | Category 1, Greater Boston region | June 2019 | None |
| Southeastern region | Unissued | Category 1 | Never built | None |
MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor offer live table games, poker and hotels, but neither has a track, so neither counts as a racino on this site. The southeastern resort license, covering Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties, has never been awarded, and lawmakers have so far declined to order a fresh look at it.
Horse racing in Massachusetts today
Live horse racing now means harness racing at Plainridge alone. The 2026 card offers four graded stakes, led by the $300,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot on July 19, and an estimated $3.2 million Massachusetts Sire Stakes program whose finals run on October 29. Post times move from 4 p.m. in summer to 1 p.m. by November.
Suffolk Downs in East Boston opened in 1935 and was New England’s last thoroughbred track when it ran its final live weekend at the end of June 2019. The land had been sold in 2017 for a housing and office development. Plans floated by its owners to move racing to the Great Barrington fairgrounds never produced a meet.
| Track | Breed | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Plainridge Park, Plainville | Harness | Racing, April to November |
| Suffolk Downs, East Boston | Thoroughbred | Live racing ended June 2019 |
| Foxboro Park, Foxborough | Harness | Closed 1997 |
| Wonderland, Revere | Greyhound | Live racing ended under the 2010 ban |
| Raynham Park, Raynham | Greyhound | Live racing ended under the 2010 ban |
Greyhound racing was outlawed by a 2008 ballot question that took effect on January 1, 2010, ending live racing at Wonderland and Raynham, the two remaining dog tracks. Neither later won a gaming license. For the current horse racing calendar beyond the state line, the horse racing schedule page lists dates at tracks across the Northeast.
Where money from Massachusetts racinos goes
The slot parlor operates under the highest tax rate of any casino category in the state: 49 percent of gross gaming revenue, against 25 percent for the resorts. Forty points go to the state and nine to the Race Horse Development Fund. In fiscal 2026 Plainridge won about $179.2 million on slots and paid about $16.1 million into the fund.
Since June 2015 the fund has received about $206.8 million from all licensees, including license fees. Standardbred racing has drawn about $149.5 million of it, which pays the purses and breeder awards at Plainridge. The thoroughbred share is another matter: with no races in the state to fund, about $27.2 million sat unspent in August 2026.
That idle balance keeps Massachusetts racinos, or rather the one track, in a yearly debate. Thoroughbred breeders use part of their share to fund races for Massachusetts-breds held elsewhere, while proposals to build or reopen a thoroughbred racetrack have come and gone. For now the money that the 2011 law meant for two breeds keeps one harness meet running.
A short timeline
The state’s track history is longer than its gaming history. Suffolk Downs opened in 1935, Foxboro Park ran harness racing until 1997, and Plainridge opened in 1999 to replace it. The history of racinos puts these dates beside Delaware, West Virginia and Iowa, which added machines at their tracks two decades earlier.
- 1935: Suffolk Downs opens in East Boston.
- 1999: Plainridge Racecourse begins simulcasting in March and live racing in April.
- 2008: Voters ban greyhound racing, effective January 2010.
- November 2011: the Expanded Gaming Act becomes law.
- February 2014: Penn National wins the slots-parlor license for Plainridge.
- June 24, 2015: Plainridge Park Casino opens.
- June 2019: Suffolk Downs runs its final live races.
- January 2023: the Plainridge sportsbook opens.
- August 2025: the Plainridge license is renewed for five years.
Racinos in neighboring states
Massachusetts racinos have no neighbors in southern New England: Rhode Island and Connecticut have no racetrack casinos today. The nearest options are harness tracks with slots further afield. Maine has Hollywood Casino Bangor, and New York has seven racinos, from Saratoga Springs to Yonkers, the most of any state in the Northeast.