The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported $50.6 million in gross sports betting revenue for April on Wednesday, pushing the overall total to over $700 million since launch.
It was the ninth time in 14 months with sports betting apps available that the Bay State surpassed $50 million in operator winnings, though April’s haul was 16.1% lower compared to the same month last year. Revenue, however, was up 5.8% compared to March as the 8.4% hold was 1.1 percentage points higher.
The state’s three retail sportsbooks and six mobile operators accepted $603.3 million worth of wagers, up 4.1% from April 2023. All five occasions where Massachusetts has topped $600 million in handle have come in the past six months as total wagering has crossed $7 billion since the first bets were placed Jan. 31, 2023.
The state received more than $9.9 million in tax revenue, lifting the year-to-date total to $43.8 million. That is more than double the total from the first four months of 2023, but mobile wagering in Massachusetts did not begin until March of that year.
1 New York ~$1.97B
2 MASS. $603.3M
3 Maryland $486.3M
4 Indiana $393.9M
5 Tennessee $380.9M
6 Iowa $209.5M
7 Oregon $72.3M
8 Maine $38.4M
9 West Virginia $34.4M
10 Vermont $17.1M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) May 15, 2024
DraftKings again attained more than half the mobile betting market in its home state, accepting $304.1 million worth of wagers in April. It posted an 8.1% hold to report $24.5 million in gross revenue, the eighth consecutive month with at least $23 million in winnings.
FanDuel, meanwhile, avoided a third straight month with a single-digit hold, claiming 11.4% of its $176.3 million handle to reap $20.1 million in revenue. It was the fourth time it cleared $20 million in monthly winnings while lifting its year-to-date total above $75 million.
BetMGM grabbed third for both revenue and handle, claiming $2.5 million in revenue from $40.4 million handle to craft a 6.2% win rate. That pushed its all-time winnings in Massachusetts above $50 million, but its 8.2% hold in 2024 is 2.6 percentage points lower than its all-time mark of 10.8%.
Though April marks the start of the slower portion of the sports betting calendar year, ESPN BET‘s $27.9 million handle was its first below $30 million since entering the Bay State last November. It fashioned a 6.6% hold to keep $1.8 million in winnings, also an all-time monthly low.
Fanatics Sportsbook did more with less in April as revenue jumped 29% from March to $1.2 million despite the $22.8 million in handle being nearly $1 million less. More than 60% of its $76.2 million handle in 2024 has come in the last two months.
Caesars dropped to last in handle for April and the betting public held it to a 3.6% hold and $712,800 in revenue. Caesars has not posted a hold above 5.4% in its past six months in Massachusetts dating back to last November and has a 4.5% win rate through the opening four months of the year.
MGM Springfield now has the two biggest monthly losses among the state’s retail three sportsbooks after bettors came out $537,800 ahead in April on $1.9 million in handle. It was the second straight April MGM finished in the red, having lost $228,400 in 2023.
Boston Encore Harbor and Plainridge Park both had sub-3.3% holds in collecting $310,500 between them. It was the first time that Massachusetts’ three brick-and-mortar sportsbooks combined to post a full-month loss, with bettors collecting $227,200 on top of the $11.7 million in wagers placed.



2024-05-16
