Massachusetts March Sports Betting Handle Figures Released, DraftKings on Top

Article ByDavid Weir

April 19, 2023

Spread the Word:

Posted in: Massachusetts Gambling News, US Gambling News, US Sports Betting News

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) this week released its second monthly recap of the state’s sports betting handle.

During March, the Bay State’s sports betting operators pulled in a total of $548 million in wagers. That amounted to some $46 million in revenues and $9.2 million in tax collected for the state.

Physical sports betting has only been legal in Massachusetts for two months, and online mobile wagering only three weeks.

Kings of the Pile

Home state heroes DraftKings, based out of Boston, brought in far more than any of the other sportsbooks in March. It booked more than $257 million in wagers.

Second place FanDuel took a total handle of $181 million. Between them, the two biggest national operators took 80% of Massachusetts March sports betting handle.

BetMGM took third spot with a $45 million handle. Barstool Sports, Wynn, and Caesars filled out the pack, in that order. Last place Caesars handled $16 million across the state in March, less than 10% of DraftKing’s total.

Interestingly, DraftKings’ impressive handle only translated into a 6.26% hold on its revenues. That’s the least of any operator in March, with BetMGM posting a 16.41% hold on its handle.

This suggests that a significant amount of DraftKings’ bettor activity was based on loss-leading promotions or bonuses that paid out more than other operators.

This month also saw quite a few upset results in the NCAA’s March Madness college basketball tournament, which could have hurt sportsbooks bottom line. DraftKings often posts a double-digit revenue hold in other legal states.

Related: Our expert guide to everything you need to know about the best Massachusetts Sportsbooks

Physical Betting

Massachusetts also has physical sportsbook betting at three sites across the state. Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park Casino all took sports bets during March.

However, none of them hold a candle so far to DraftKing’s or FanDuel’s online revenues. In total, the three sportsbook sites handled $19.98 million in bets.

Encore smashed the other two operators out of the park in accounting for a lot of that handle. The Boston casino pulled in $13.442 million in total wagers, holding onto 5.2% as revenue.

Like DraftKings, Encore took the biggest handle, but held on to the least of it. Plainridge Park Casino had the highest hold, at 12%.

MGM Springfield took the lowest handle in March of any Massachusetts operator at $1.6 million. The casino was the site of an incident that sparked a fatal police shooting in February.

Exceeding Expectations

Massachusetts was expected by experts to be one of the biggest sports betting markets in the nation before launch two months ago.

March is traditionally a busy time for American sportsbooks. But if the Bay State’s bettors keep going like this, they’ll prove that prediction true.

They have already taken third position nationally for overall handle in March. Only New York and New Jersey pulled in more bets across the month, with both states posting more than $1 billion handles.

However, mobile betting was only available for three weeks in Massachusetts. So the market has a lot of room for growth.

State regulators expected some $60 million a year in tax revenue annually initially. However, with $9.1 million claimed from online operators in three weeks of March alone, that target looks like it could be underestimated.