Massachusetts books $25.7 million in sports betting for February

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Wednesday reported more than $25.7 million in sports betting for the month of February, the only full month in which betting was restricted to the state’s three brick-and-mortar locations.

Bay State introduced mobile betting on March 10, and they’re expected to ramp up dramatically on Thursday when the first round of the NCAA tournament begins. GeoComply reported that more than 8.1 million geolocation transactions were made from over 406,000 accounts in the first three days of mobile betting across the six online books launched last Friday.

Operator gross receipts at the three retail books were just under $2.1 million, resulting in retention under 8.1%. The state was able to collect its 15 percent tax on just over $2 million in adjusted revenue, resulting in an inflow of just over $300,000. All three venues ended February with positive EGR compared to results from the Jan. 31 launch, when Encore Boston Harbor posted an intraday loss of more than $73,000.

Encore Harbor gets the lion’s share of control

Current Top 10 February #Sports Betting Handles by state:

1 New York $1.47 billion
2 Indiana $356.2M
3 Maryland $339.4 million
4 Tennessee $327.3M
5 Kansas $194 million
6 Iowa $193.9 million
7 Oregon $48.4M
8 West Virginia $39.8 million

9 MASSACHUSETTS $25.7M <-NEW

10 Montana $4.4 million#GamblingTwitter

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) March 15, 2023

Encore Harbor shrugged off its ill-fated debut when the WynnBET-powered book claimed nearly two-thirds of the state title and accepted $16.9 million in bets. It ended with gross sales of just under $901,000, resulting in a 5.3% stake.

That was the lowest win rate among the three personal books, as MGM Springfield led the group with 15.1%, followed by Plainridge Park Casino with 12.8%. The latter, Barstool Sportsbook, edged out Encore Harbor by less than $5,000 to finish just over $905,000 from $7.1 million.

MGM Springfield claimed nearly $267,000 in gross earnings from $1.8 million in bets and continued a blistering early pace in which its overall win rate is 15.3% while generating nearly $279,000 in gross earnings.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission did not break down handle or revenue by sport category in its report. It only provided the state with top-line numbers on handle, gross receipts, adjusted gross receipts, and tax receipts.