Massachusetts Sportsbooks Took $510,948 in Wagers on Jan. 31

On January 31, the inaugural day of legalized sports betting in Massachusetts, the state’s three retail sportsbooks witnessed more than $500,000 worth of wagers made by enthusiastic bettors.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has revealed the revenue figures for casinos and sportsbooks in January. As sports betting became legal on January 31st, there is only one day’s worth of data available.

The precise amount of money wagered on sports at Encore Boston Harbor’s WynnBET Sportsbook, MGM Springfield’s BetMGM Sportsbook, and Plainridge Park Casino’s Barstool Sportsbook was $510,948.04.

However, out of the entire amount wagered, the three casino sportsbooks collectively recorded a negative gross sports wagering revenue (GSWR) of -$9,524.

We will analyze each casino individually.

Learn everything you need to know about Massachusetts sports betting by clicking the link below.

Massachusetts Casino Sportsbook Revenues

Encore Boston Harbor

The WynnBET Sportsbook, located north of downtown Boston, topped all casinos by recording a total of $370,881.75 in sports bets.

Despite the disappointing outcome, WynnBET bettors experienced an exceptionally successful day, so much so that Encore Boston Harbor ended up with negative revenue on January 31st. The reported loss amounted to $74,320.15.

Instead of paying Massachusetts revenue taxes on its negative January revenue, EBH will carry over the negative amount in tax liability and include it in returns filed for subsequent months.

Plainridge Park Casino

The Barstool Sportsbook at PPC had an impressive wagering total of $82,235.80, which was the second highest. In contrast, EBH didn’t perform as well, with a revenue hold of 64.9% and a total GSWR of $53,554.26.

In January, PPC paid $8,033.14 in taxes to the state, which resulted from a 15% tax on their retail sportsbook revenue.

MGM Springfield

On January 31st, the BetMGM Sportsbook Massachusetts at MGM Springfield recorded the lowest popularity among the state’s three retail sportsbooks. It generated a total handle of $57,235.80.

BetMGM’s revenue hold was 21%, which led to a Gross Sports Wagering Revenue (GSWR) of $12,152.56.

MGM has paid $1,827.88 in taxes to the state for January due to the 15% tax on their retail sportsbook revenue.

Breaking Down the Numbers

It is not surprising to witness a significant difference in revenue among the three casino sportsbooks, considering that we are analyzing data from just a single day.

A smaller size of the sample yields more unpredictable outcomes.

Encore Boston Harbor had a negative hold of -19.8%, while MGM had a hold of 21% and PPC had an impressive hold of 64.9%. Therefore, on January 31st, it was highly advantageous to be a bettor at Encore Boston Harbor, while it was unfavorable to be one at Plainridge Park Casino.

Massachusetts generated $9,861.02 in revenue tax payments from a single day of legal sports betting.

Just for fun, let’s take that number and multiply it by 30 to estimate a monthly tax payment. Keep in mind that this calculation will be highly flawed since it doesn’t account for the fact that EBH didn’t make a payment in January and not every day in a month will be as busy as opening day. But let’s not take this too seriously, it’s all for fun!

… $295.830.60.

And for the year?

… $3,549,967.20.

In Massachusetts, it is permissible to place sports bets within a range of 3 miles from the shore.