Skip to main content

Massachusetts Reports Strong Sports Betting Results in April

Dave Bonderoff

Last Updated: May 16, 2023 5:52 PM EDT • 2 min 4 sec read.

A general view of the game between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images via AFP.
A general view of the game between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images via AFP.

April has been a brutal month for the bulk of the U.S. legal sports betting industry with double-digit month-over-month declines being reported across most of the states that have released their April figures. With no NFL, no March Madness, and playoff-dominated schedules in the NBA and NHL, April traditionally marks the start of the annual spring/summer sports betting slowdown.

Enter America's newest legal sports betting jurisdiction, Massachusetts, which actually saw roughly the same month-over-month sport betting activity over March and April at the best sports betting sites. 

Lofty expectations for the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics may have had something to do with it, but it is likely just a matter of bettors in the Bay State wanting to get in on the long-awaited legal sports betting platform.

Diving into the sports betting numbers

The second month of legal sports betting in the Massachusetts market produced $579.3 million in overall wagers with the state's new retail and mobile sports betting platforms. It represents a rare April increase for an American legal sports betting jurisdiction.

Massachusetts sportsbooks saw a 2% month-over-month increase in sports betting activity from the $568 million reported in March. 

One major difference between March and April was that mobile wagers weren't taken in by the Bay State's best sportsbooks until March 10, and April had a full month of internet-based bets.

That is important because the best sports betting apps in the Bay State accounted for 97.75% of the overall April handle, or $566.2 million. In-person betting, on the other hand, dropped from March to April — to a little over $13 million from nearly $20 million in March.

Revenue higher too

With the April uptick in mobile betting came an increase in sportsbook revenues for Massachusetts sportsbooks. The state taxes mobile sites at 20%, while retail providers are taxed at 15%. In the end, $60.3 million in gross gaming revenue by Massachusetts sports betting providers in April, an eye-opening 25.2% higher than the $47 million in March.

Taxes collected from the Massachusetts legal sports betting sector rose month-over-month as well. $11.8 million in taxes were paid to Massachusetts state and local coffers in April, up from $9.3 million in March.

Hometown DraftKings the top provider

Boston-based DraftKings was the most successful sports betting site in the Massachusetts market in April. The company took in nearly half of the overall bets in the state with $283.8 million in handle (over $100 million more than the next best sportsbook) and $29 million in revenue in April.

FanDuel was second with $172.6 million in handle and $22 million in revenue. FanDuel actually led the state in sportsbook hold rate with 12.8%.

BetMGM was a distant third with $43 million in handle and $4.7 million in revenue, Barstool checked in at fourth with $24.6 million in handle and $2 million in revenue, WynnBET was fifth with $22.8 million in handle and $463K in revenue, and Caesars rounded out the top-six with $19.4 million in handle and $1.7 million in revenue in April.

Just like the rest of the country, the diminished sports betting menu should lead to a more typical sports betting slowdown for Massachusetts in May. There is always a chance that the Boston Celtics could buoy the betting totals, but a $500 million+ handle for May isn't widely expected.

Written By:
Dave Bonderoff
Dave Bonderoff and betting go hand-in-hand. Both are characterized by "odds". Dave fancies himself as one of the most dedicated sports and pop-culture junkies around, to the chagrin of his family and friends. Following sports for 50 years and writing about it for 20, Dave hasn't found a sport yet that can't contribute to 2-3 straight hours of couch time. That search remains ongoing. As a good old Canadian boy, hockey is in Dave’s heart, as is curling sadly. But evolution is a real thing and that’s why football, baseball, and just about every sport on the planet has become a passion. Dave isn’t afraid to kill some time obsessing over politics or the far-too-frequent awards shows the consume the airwaves.