DraftKings maintained its status as the mobile sports wagering juggernaut of Massachusetts in August, accounting for over half the state’s $314.9 million handle, according to figures released Friday by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
It was the second straight month and third time overall that DraftKings claimed more than 50% of the market share since mobile betting launched in March. It remains the only operator to surpass $1 billion in accepted wagers in the state, and the $161.9 million handle for August represented an 11.8% increase from July.
That rise outpaced the overall 6.8% increase in handle generated by the state’s eight mobile and three retail sportsbooks. The hold was a pedestrian 7.5% — nearly 2.8 percentage points lower than July and the lowest in Massachusetts’ six months of mobile betting. Operators claimed $23.5 million in gross revenue, down 22.1% from July, and that was also the lowest total in the online era.
The state received an inflow of $4.5 million in tax revenue, sending the total above $50 million in seven months of wagering. Massachusetts taxes adjusted gross revenue from mobile operators at 20% and retail AGR at 15%.
DraftKings standing tall on its home turf
August #SportsBetting numbers 🧵for #Massachusetts via MGC. Mobile/Retail Han/GGR/WR
Mobile
Aug: $307.25M/$23.31M/7.59%
YTD: $2.48B/$252.83M/10.21%Retail:
Aug: $7.68M/$177.2K/2.31%
YTD: $93.66M/$6.5M/6.94%3/x #SportsBettingTwitter #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 15, 2023
It’s no surprise DraftKings is doing well in Massachusetts since the company’s headquarters are located in Boston, and its outsize handle footprint is also enabling the online titan to top the rankings in revenue. To this end, DraftKings claimed $11.2 million in gross revenue for August while crafting a 6.9% win rate. That was its lowest hold since 6.3% in March and ended a run of four straight months at 9.7% or higher.
FanDuel was a clear-cut second in both revenue and handle, keeping $7.6 million of $79.4 million in accepted wagers. Its 9.6% hold snapped a four-month streak in double digits, and despite a 7.9% decline versus July’s handle, the sportsbook still had enough to surpass $750 million since launch.
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Fanatics Sportsbook paced all mobile operators in hold at close to 12.6%, and its handle almost doubled from July to $4.4 million. It claimed nearly $554,000 in gross revenue in August, surpassing its total from the previous three months combined.
BetMGM made it six-for-six with double-digit holds, landing just shy of 11.6% as it reaped $2.5 million from $21.2 million worth of wagers. It leads the group of eight mobile operators with a hold close to 13.7% overall and has posted $26.2 million in winnings.
Betr’s numbers were practically flat compared to July, as the microbetting-focused platform had just over $150,000 handle and $11,000 in revenue. The August handle was barely one-quarter the $593,000 in bets processed in its launch month in May.
Bettors fared well against Caesars Sportsbook and WynnBET in August, keeping both mobile books below a 4.1% hold. Caesars finished with more than $594,000 against $14.6 million handle, while WynnBET claimed nearly $366,000 from $9 million worth of bets.
WynnBET, which announced last month that it would cease sports betting operations in eight states, actually generated more handle in Massachusetts than New York for August, as it totaled close to $8.5 million in accepted bets in the Empire State.
Encore Boston Harbor absorbs second loss
August #SportsBetting numbers 🧵for #Massachusetts via MGC. Han/GGR/WR by retail operator:@EncoreResortBH $3.96M/-$48K/-1.21%@MGMSpringfield $912.7K/$67.2K/7.36%@PlainridgePark $2.81M/$158K/5.63%
4/x #SportsBettingTwitter #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 15, 2023
For the second time since launch, Encore Boston Harbor came out on the losing end of wagers for a month, as it paid out $48,027 above the $4 million handle it generated in August. Its other loss came on the single day of wagering in January when the Bay State commenced legal betting, as it finished more than $73,000 in the red.
Massachusetts’ other two retail books had middling performances. MGM Springfield posted a hold close to 7.4% on nearly $913,000 in wagers, while Plainridge Park had a 5.6% win rate to claim over $158,000 in revenue from $2.8 million handle. Retail wagering was up 12.8% from July to nearly $7.7 million, but revenue plunged 70.1% to just over $177,000, as the 2.3% hold was down 6.4 percentage points from the previous month.
