The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported sports betting handle totaling more than $654.4 million for November on Friday, as the first extensive convergence of available wagering on Boston’s professional sports teams proved a popular draw in the Bay State.
Though the New England Patriots are sloughing through a rare down season, the Boston Bruins have picked up where they left off in of regular-season play from 2022-23, and the Celtics are tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the October’s $571.8 million.
Operators, though, could not make the bigger pot lead to more revenue. The three retail sportsbooks and eight betting apps combined for $50.6 million in gross revenue, resulting in a reasonable 7.7% hold. The winnings were down 16.5% versus October, but still enough to send the year-to-date total above $420 million.
The state was able to levy taxes on $48.9 million in adjusted gross revenue, creating an inflow of nearly $9.8 million into Bay State tax coffers. Massachusetts has generated $81.8 million in taxes from sports betting since launch Jan. 31, and handle topped $4.3 billion with the November figures.
ESPN BET comes in swinging 4h1d1f
| State | November 2023 Handle | Pct of Mobile Handle | November 2023 Revenue | Pct of Mobile Revenue | Known Promotional Spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | $33,309,326 | 6.25% | $4,179,395 | 10.32% | $13,023,420 |
| Iowa | $15,296,211 | 5.75% | $1,820,953 | 14.44% | N/A |
| Indiana | $27,452,640 | 5.53% | $2,610,503 | 10.07% | N/A |
| Kansas | $21,524,694 | 8.55% | $2,642,652 | 15.16% | $6,317,188 |
| Massachusetts | $39,083,620 | 6.14% | $5,808,628 | 11.59% | N/A |
| Michigan | $49,876,542 | 8.77% | $6,090,262 | 17.95% | $16,044,642 |
| Pennsylvania | $65,090,379 | 7.42% | $6,998,217 | 15.02% | $14,826,780 |
| Ohio | $70,848,937 | 8.42% | $12,009,457 | 16.96% | $29,020,106 |
| Virginia | $26,928,237 | 4.26% | $3,377,173 | 7.94% | N/A |
| Illinois | $81,077,127 | 6.06% | $7,516,815 | 10.66% | N/A |
| Arizona | $39,024,967 | 5.53% | $3,882,844 | 9.27% | $3,785,281 |
| TOTALS | $469,512,680 | 6.57% | $56,936,899 | 12.57% | $83,017,417 |
Massachusetts is the fifth state with figures where PENN Entertainment launched ESPN BET in mid-November, and the early reports continue to be encouraging. PENN finished third among the eight operators in handle with $39.1 million worth of accepted wagers — 6.1% of the mobile handle — though the MGC does not disclose how much of that wagering came from promotional offers.
FanDuel, the usual marketplace leader in that category. ESPN BET also generated $5.8 million in gross revenue in Massachusetts, comfortably third in the online pecking order, and has claimed $17.1 million in revenue from the five states that break out totals. More impressively, it has fashioned a 12.5% hold from $136.7 million combined handle in those markets.
The rebranded sportsbook’s debut was almost enough to knock DraftKings below 50% market share in its home state. DraftKings still set a state record for monthly handle at $320 million, and it still has more than half the state’s total mobile handle of $2.14 billion. DraftKings posted a 8.5% hold for November to claim close to $27.2 million in gross revenue.
FanDuel was a clear-cut second, narrowly setting an all-time high for handle at $181.5 million, though its hold was an all-time low. The result was almost $12.6 million in revenue, down 21% from September despite a 16.7% bounce in wagers accepted.
Caesars had a state-low 1.5% win rate for mobile operators that limited it to just over $403,000 in winnings.
Betr had mixed results thanks to a 12.5% hold. Its revenue was up 13.2% to $24,295, but handle slacked 40% to less than $195,000 as it cleared $2 million worth of wagers accepted since launch.
Bettors fare well versus brick-and-mortar books 4wa1i
Running NOVEMBER Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 New York $2.12B
2 MASS. $654.4M
3 Maryland $550.7M
4 Tennessee $515.5M
5 Indiana $513.7M
6 Iowa ~$289.7M
7 Kansas $260.9M
8 Oregon $71.2M
9 West Virginia $52.5M
10 Maine $37.6M#sportsbettingtwitter #GamblingTwitter— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) December 15, 2023
Though the state’s three retail sportsbooks were active — the $17.7 million handle was third-highest this year — the betting public kept them in check in limiting the trio to a hold under 2.4% and less than $415,000 in winnings. Encore Boston Harbor was the lone venue of the three to reach six figures for revenue in November, keeping just over $306,000 from slightly more than $7 million bet while crafting a 4.4% win rate.
Plainridge Park topped the three in handle with $7.7 million worth of accepted bets, but it finished last in revenue with just over $33,000 and a 0.4% hold. In between was MGM Springfield, which posted a win rate of 2.6% to to keep almost $75,200 from $2.9 million wagered.
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