Massachusetts Sports Betting Revenue Drops Despite Handle Growth in October

Massachusetts, like many other states, witnessed a decline in sports betting revenue in October despite a significant increase in handle. While operators accepted higher stakes, larger payouts to players contributed to a month-over-month and year-over-year revenue drop.

Revenue Declines Despite Handle Growth

In October, sports betting operators in Massachusetts handled a total of $748 million in wagers, with online operators accounting for $735 million, leaving retail betting with a modest $13 million share. Actual revenue for online operators was $48.3 million, a sharp 33% decrease compared to September’s revenue of over $72 million. This trend mirrors what has been observed in many other states, where October revenues significantly dropped compared to September.

Interestingly, the revenue dip occurred alongside a 10% increase in handle, which was $667 million in September. This suggests that, regardless of the volume of bets, sports outcomes in October were less favorable for operators. The hold rate fell from 11% in September to 6.8% in October.

The drop in revenue also impacted the taxes paid to the state budget. In October, online operators contributed a total of $9.66 million in taxes, down from $14.44 million in September.

DraftKings Dominates Massachusetts Sports Betting

Among individual operators, DraftKings maintained its stronghold in Massachusetts in October. The company reported a handle of $383.4 million, actual revenue of $24.5 million, and a hold rate of 6.63%.

Trailing DraftKings was FanDuel, which achieved a handle of $215.5 million and actual revenue of $15.2 million, with a slightly better hold rate of 7.27%.

BetMGM rounded out the top three, with a handle of $49.7 million and revenue of $3.6 million, boasting the highest hold rate among online operators at 7.46%.

Competition Heats Up Among Smaller Operators

Fanatics continued to shake up the Massachusetts sports betting market, reporting a handle of $35.2 million and revenue of $2 million, with a 5.93% hold rate—the lowest among major operators. Despite a decline in handle compared to September, Fanatics retained its position as the fourth-largest operator in the state.

ESPN BET, owned by Penn Entertainment, showed progress in narrowing the gap with Fanatics. ESPN BET reported a handle of $25 million and revenue of $1.5 million. While the distance between the two operators has lessened, it remains substantial.

At the lower end of the spectrum, Caesars posted a handle of $21 million and revenue of $1.2 million, while newcomer Bally Bet reported a handle of $5 million and revenue of $353,000.

Challenges for Massachusetts Operators in October

October 2024 proved to be a challenging month for sports betting operators in Massachusetts. Despite increased handle both month-over-month and year-over-year, actual revenue for all operators declined compared to both September 2024 and October 2023. This indicates that while the market continues to grow in terms of player engagement, profitability remains volatile.