February also marked the 12th month of live digital sports betting, and the state regulator reported $5.98bn in online bets taken since launch 10 March 2023.
During February, eight digital platforms were live. But heading into March, those in the state now have six choices, after Betr and WynnBET shuttered their Bay State platforms.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission last week announced that it expects Bally Bet to be live by the end of June. BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbooks, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, and FanDuel remain live.
For February, Massachusetts’ three brick-and-mortar and eight online sportsbooks reported $52.55m in adjusted gross gaming revenue (GGR) and paid the state $10.5m in taxes. Since the state’s three brick-and-mortar sportsbooks went live 31 January 2023, operators have paid the state $118.6m in tax revenue.
Ten percent hold was barely out of reach
Numbers across the board were down in February – the first month since September without a full slate of NFL games – and operators were just shy of hitting a 10% hold.
The 9.93% hold was down compared to January’s 11.2% win rate. Digital operators had a hold of 10.03% for February while physical sportsbooks didn’t fare as well, with an average 6.2% hold.
Of total handle, online platforms took $530.3m in wagers in February and the retail sportsbooks took $12.2m. Digital operators are taxed at 20% of GGR and brick-and-mortar sportsbooks are taxed at 15%.
On the digital side, DraftKings continued to be the market leader, taking $269.8m in wagers with an 11.7% hold. The next closest operator was FanDuel at $158.9m and 9.1% hold. BetMGM was a distant third, taking $34.7m in bets and a 9.8% hold. Of the sportsbooks still operating in Massachusetts, Caesars had the lowest hold at 3.8% on handle of $18.3m.
WynnBET, which stopped taking bets 12 February, lost $196m on a -5.34% hold. The company will continue to operate the Encore Boston Harbor physical sportsbook. Betr, which shuttered in Massashusetts 16 February, showed a $5,044 profit on $86,865 in wagers and a 5.8% hold. The company does not have a physical location in Massachusetts.
On the retail side, Plainridge Park had the highest handle, with players wagering $5.6m at its southern Massachusetts location near the Rhode Island border. MGM Springfield had the highest hold of any operator at 15.6% on $1.6m in handle. Despite the low handle, MGM Springfield was second among retail casinos in GGR and taxes paid to the state.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/sports-betting/online-sports-betting/massachusetts-online-sportsbooks-first-year/
