Massachusetts bettors performed almost as poorly as Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s “Dunkings” track suits looked in January, as the state’s Gaming Commission reported $72.7 million in gross sports betting revenue for operators on Thursday.
The record figure breezed past the previous high of $62.1 million in house winnings set in December. DraftKings set a Bay State record with $36.9 million in revenue, the fourth time in 11 months the Massachusetts-based operator surpassed $30 million. Statewide gross revenue increased 17% compared to December, as the 11.1% hold was up more than 1.7 percentage points.
Handle totaled $651.7 million, down 1.1% from December but also within $7 million of the record $658.7 million bet that month. January’s action also pushed Massachusetts over $5 billion handle in 13 months of wagering, though January 2023 betting was strictly retail.
This January’s hold ranks second all-time, trailing the 13.6% win rate attained last May. The state was able to levy taxes on $71.1 million in adjusted gross revenue, resulting in an inflow of $14.2 million into Massachusetts’ coffers. The state has collected $108 million in taxes since launch, with all but $311,395 of that coming since mobile betting started last March.
DraftKings defending home turf well
Running January/2024 YTD Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 New York $1.97B
2 MASS. $651.75M
3 Maryland ~$545M
4 Indiana $480.6M
5 Tennessee $465.8M
6 Iowa $259.5M
7 Kansas $239.6M
8 Oregon $67.1M
9 West Virginia $46.4M
10 Maine $38.1M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) February 15, 2024
It was expected that DraftKings would extend every effort to make sure it was the No. 1 mobile sportsbook where its headquarters are located, and those efforts continue to be rewarded. January marked its second-best hold behind the 13.9% fashioned in May, while the $311.4 million worth of accepted wagers was its third straight month with more than $310 million.
DraftKings has accounted for just over half the $5.45 billion online handle in the Bay State, while its $274.5 million in gross revenue is also narrowly over the 50% mark among the eight mobile betting apps.
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DraftKings’ eye-popping totals overshadowed a record month for eternal rival FanDuel. It led online operators with a 13.2% hold in January, reaping $25.6 million in winnings from $194 million worth of accepted bets. That lifted FanDuel’s overall hold on gross revenue in the Bay State above 11%, as it has claimed nearly $175.5 million from $1.59 billion handle.
ESPN BET was again the No. 3 book for handle in January, though its $45.4 million handle was down 9.2% from December. The PENN Entertainment-owned sportsbook did represent 7.1% of the nearly $638 million worth of online wagers, keeping it in line with first-year goals for the marketplace.
Similar to other states, ESPN had a challenging January in terms of revenue, as its 4.5% hold resulted in $2 million in gross revenue. That was less than half December’s total and barely more than one-third the $5.8 million claimed as part of its November rollout.
BetMGM made some inroads into that No. 3 spot for handle, reducing the gap between itself and ESPN BET to $8.6 million despite a 6% downturn in handle to $36.8 million. BetMGM had a strong 10.8% hold to kick off 2024, resulting in $4 million in winnings as it avoided a third straight month with a sub-10% win rate.
Fanatics Sportsbook bucked the trend of second-tier operators when it came to handle, improving 13.6% to $15.5 million — narrowly off its all-time high of $15.8 million set in November. That helped Fanatics notch its second month with $1 million in revenue in Massachusetts, finishing nearly $100,000 above the benchmark while notching a 7.1% hold.
The two operators who will be leaving the Bay State marketplace this month, WynnBET and Betr, had slight declines from December. WynnBET claimed close to $731,000 in winnings while crafting a 6.2% hold against $11.9 million handle, while Betr won nearly $36,000 from $419,000 worth of wagers for a win rate of 8.6%.
It was the seventh time in 11 months of mobile wagering that operators had a collective hold of 10% or higher, while the all-time hold for online wagering against gross revenue is narrowly over 10%.
