Massachusetts Sportsbooks Claim $42 M In June Revenue

Operator winnings were up 28.1% from last year, notably lagging behind the 53.4% surge in handle to $509.4 million. The Celtics’ run to their 18th title undoubtedly played a role in that, though the MGC does not break out handle and revenue by sport-specific categories. Heavily favored to win the title, Boston needed only five games to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

Handle was down 13.3% from May’s $587.3 million, while gross revenue declined 28.4%. The overall 8.3% hold was 1.7 percentage points lower than May and 1.6 percentage points lower than last June. While Massachusetts was the lowest of the 12 states to report June figures, it is still nearly 20% above the 7% industry standard.

The state was eligible to levy taxes on $40.5 million in adjusted gross revenue, resulting in an inflow of $8.2 million into tax coffers. All but $22,000 of those receipts came from the Bay State’s six sports betting apps as their three retail counterparts combined for just $1,271 in gross winnings and nearly -$569,000 in AGR.

Boston’s status as a favorite throughout the NBA regular season and in the playoffs — the Celtics went 16-3 in the postseason after leading the league with 64 wins — helped soften the revenue blow as operators paid out winning Celtics futures tickets.

Boston-based DraftKings again accounted for more than half the handle derived from the Bay State’s mobile sportsbooks, totaling $263.7 million as their all-time action cleared $4 billion in 16 months of betting. Its 7.6% hold, though, contributed to snapping a nine-month streak with at least $20 million in gross revenue as DraftKings came up $16,500 short. The June haul was just enough to push the mobile titan over $400 million in total gross winnings.

FanDuel attained an 11% hold for the third straight month and collected $16.8 million in revenue from $141.4 million worth of placed bets. FanDuel, which topped $1 billion in handle for 2024, also surpassed $250 million in total gross revenue. It has a 10.8% all-time win rate in the Bay State from $2.43 billion in handle.

BetMGM maintained its firm hold on the last podium spots for revenue and handle, winning $2.4 million from $34 million in handle to craft a 7.1% hold. It was the fourth straight month with a sub-8% hold for BetMGM, which also has yet to post $4 million in winnings in any month this year after doing so four times in 2023.

The other three operators — ESPN BET, Fanatics Sportsbook, and Caesars — were separated by nearly $2.2 million in handle as only Caesars fell short of generating $20 million worth of accepted bets. Fanatics grabbed the No. 4 spot for revenue with $1.7 million as it fashioned an 8.6% hold.

ESPN BET, whose $21.8 million handle was less than half the $45.4 million generated in January, posted a 5.7% win rate in claiming $1.2 million in revenue. Caesars eked out a narrow win for gross revenue with $30,050 and a 0.2% hold on $19.6 million in accepted bets, but finished with an AGR of -$16,600.

While Caesars surpassed $300 million in all-time handle, its 5.4% hold is easily the lowest among the six active mobile sportsbooks in Massachusetts. Fanatics is fifth with a 7.1% win rate.

Plainridge Park Takes Its First Retail ‘L’

Massachusetts’ three retail sportsbooks narrowly missed their second losing month in the past three. Plainridge Park accounted for the brunt of the losses as bettors came out $179,800 ahead on nearly $3 million wagered, resulting in a -6.1% hold.

MGM Springfield barely avoided a third consecutive losing month, winning just $22,900 from over $1 million in handle. It did not pay any taxes for the month, though, as its AGR is still -$548,600.

Encore Harbor cleared $2 million in year-to-date winnings after reaping $158,200 from $4.7 million in handle, but the 3.4% win rate marked the fourth time in six months this year with a sub-5% hold.