Betr Goes Live in Massachusetts

Micro betting sportsbook brand Betr took its place in the competitive Massachusetts sports betting market on Monday, becoming the seventh online wagering brand to launch in the Bay State. The micro betting sportsbook app, co-founded by social media star Jake Paul, will make Massachusetts its second sports betting jurisdiction. The brand launched in Ohio on Jan. 1.

Betr soft-launched their wagering product in the Bay State last week with some success, and after a few more tests, will officially become part of what has been a popular Massachusetts sports betting scene.

Betr had originally planned to become part of the Massachusetts legal sports betting industry when the Commonwealth launched their sports betting platform on March 10.

How we got here

Betr, self described as “the world’s first micro betting app,”  has been pursuing new sports betting jurisdictions to become a part of, but so far has been limited to just one state, prior to Monday's launch in Massachusetts. Ohio was its only state, despite having a social media darling Jake Paul being the face of the brand.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) granted Betr a license to operate in the state just two weeks ago, after failing to meet the deadline to launch with the other providers in Massachusetts in March. By a 5-0 vote, the Gaming Commission approved Betr's sportsbook license, making it the state's seventh wagering operator.

Gaining market share will be tough in Massachusetts with plenty of the best sportsbooks already operating there, including home-state DraftKings. But Paul’s profile could bring some exposure to the new brand in a relatively new and unestablished Massachusetts market.

Betr so far

The Betr brand has been relatively slow to catch on in the Ohio market while competing with the best sports betting sites, but the hope is that Massachusetts will be different.

Betr took in just $898,188 in March (second lowest among Ohio sports betting providers), $725,900 in February, and about $1.09 million in January. Thanks to promotional and operational costs associated with new markets, Betr has landed in the red in that market and is expected have similar results during the first months in Massachusetts.

There is a chance, however, that Massachusetts will be more receptive to Paul's micro-betting brand and that the company can wrestle some market share away from the heavyweights already active there.

Betr joins...

DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, Barstool, and WynnBET have all been active in the Massachusetts market since the state went live with their legal sports betting platform. BallyBet, Betr, Betway, and Fanatics have also all been granted licenses to operate in the Bay State.

The six current operators have reported good success so far in Massachusetts, and Fanatics is expected to join Betr in the fray as early as next week.

For what it is worth, March produced $584.5 in bets in three weeks in Massachusetts, making for a good first month for America's newest betting state.

Betr getting bigger?

As mentioned, the Betr micro betting brand will make Massachusetts just its second sports betting jurisdiction with launches in other states planned in the near future. That, of course, may depend on just how successful the betting site is in the states they already operate in.

Indiana, thanks to Betr's agreement with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, is the next probable location. That band's partnership with EBCI Holdings “can [also] provide potential market access to Betr in additional states,” according to a press release from 2022.

Stay tuned as Betr tries to make inroads into an already established American sports betting market. Success isn’t guaranteed, but it will certainly be interesting to track the betting site’s progress in the markets they have access to.