Massachusetts Posts $25.7 Million In Sports Wagering In February

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported more than $25.7 million in sports wagering handle for the month of February on Wednesday, the lone full month when betting was limited to the state’s three brick-and-mortar locations.

The Bay State launched mobile wagering March 10, and it is expected to pick up dramatically Thursday with the first round of the NCAA Tournament getting underway. GeoComply reported more than 8.1 million geolocation transactions were made from over 406,000 accounts in the opening three days of mobile betting across the six online books that launched last Friday.

Gross operator revenue at the three retail books totaled slightly less than $2.1 million, resulting in a hold under 8.1% The state was able to levy its 15% tax on just over $2 million in adjusted revenue, resulting in an inflow of slightly more than $300,000. All three venues finished with positive AGR in February compared to the results from the Jan. 31 launch, when Encore Boston Harbor posted a one-day loss of more than $73,000.

Encore Harbor gets the lion’s share of handle

Running Top 10 February #SportsBetting handles by state:

1 New York $1.47B
2 Indiana $356.2M
3 Maryland $339.4M
4 Tennessee $327.3M
5 Kansas $194M
6 Iowa $193.9M
7 Oregon $48.4M
8 West Virginia $39.8M

9 MASSACHUSETTS $25.7M <-NEW

10 Montana $4.4M#GamblingTwitter

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) March 15, 2023

Encore Harbor shook off its inauspicious debut, as the WynnBET-powered book claimed nearly two-thirds of the state’s handle and accepted $16.9 million worth of wagers. It finished just shy of $901,000 in gross revenue, resulting in a 5.3% hold.

That was the lowest win rate among the trio of in-person books, as MGM Springfield paced the group at 15.1% followed by Plainridge Park Casino at 12.8%. The latter’s Barstool Sportsbook edged out Encore Harbor for the top revenue spot by less than $5,000, finishing slightly above $905,000 from $7.1 million in handle.

MGM Springfield claimed close to $267,000 in gross revenue from $1.8 million worth of bets, continuing a torrid early pace in which its overall win rate is 15.3% while collecting nearly $279,000 in gross revenue.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission did not break down handle and revenue by sport category in its report. It provided only top-line figures of handle, gross revenue, adjusted gross revenue, and tax receipts to the state.