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

Written By Matthew Bain on February 15, 2023

Massachusetts sportsbooks took $510,948 in sports wagers on Jan. 31, from play-ma.com

Massachusetts sports bettors spent more than $500,000 on wagers at the state’s three retail sportsbooks on Jan. 31, the first day with legal sports betting in the state.

That’s according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which released casino and sportsbook revenue numbers from January on Wednesday. Since sports betting was only legal starting Jan. 31, there’s only one day of sports betting data.

The exact total money spent on sports wagers at Encore Boston Harbor’s WynnBET Sportsbook, MGM Springfield’s BetMGM Sportsbook, and Plainridge Park Casino’s Barstool Sportsbook: $510,948.04.

But, of that total handle, the three casino sportsbooks actually combined for a negative gross sports wagering revenue (GSWR): -$9,524.

Let’s break things down by casino.

Massachusetts Casino Sportsbook Revenues

Encore Boston Harbor

The WynnBET Sportsbook just north of downtown Boston led all casinos with $370,881.75 in sports bets placed.

However, WynnBET bettors had an amazing day. So amazing, in fact, that Encore Boston Harbor wound up below zero with its Jan. 31 revenue. It reported a loss of $74,320.15.

EBH doesn’t pay Massachusetts revenue taxes on its negative January revenue. Instead, it will carry over the negative amount in tax liability to returns filed for subsequent months.

Plainridge Park Casino

The Barstool Sportsbook at PPC took in the second-highest wagering total at $82,235.80. It fared much better than EBH, with a revenue hold of 64.9% and a total GSWR of $53,554.26.

With a 15% tax on retail sportsbook revenue, that means PPC paid the state $8,033.14 in taxes for January.

MGM Springfield

The BetMGM Sportsbook Massachusetts at MGM Springfield was the least popular of state’s three retail sportsbooks on Jan. 31. It reported a total handle of $57,235.80.

BetMGM had a revenue hold of 21%, resulting in a GSWR of $12,152.56.

With a 15% tax on retail sportsbook revenue, that means MGM paid the state $1,827.88 in taxes for January.

Breaking Down the Numbers

The wide variance in revenue holds for the three casino sportsbooks is, well, what you might expect to see from one day of data.

Translation: A smaller sample size leads to more erratic results.

EBH had a -19.8% hold, compared to 21% at MGM and a whopping 64.9% at PPC. So, just for Jan. 31 at least, you really wanted to be a bettor at Encore Boston Harbor, and you really didn’t want to be one at Plainridge Park Casino.

From one day of legal sports betting, Massachusetts took in $9,861.02 in revenue tax payments.

For fun, let’s multiply that figure by 30 to see what a monthly tax payment could be. (This will be miserably flawed, as the January total had no payment from EBH and all 30 days in a month won’t be as popular as opening day. But, again, this is just for fun.)

… $295.830.60.

And for the year?

… $3,549,967.20.

RULES: You Can Bet on Sports Up to 3 Miles Off the Shore in Massachusetts

Written by

Matthew Bain

Matthew Bain started as Content Manager at Play MA in 2022. Before that, he spent six years as a sports reporter and then deputy sports editor for the Des Moines Register, during which time he won nine statewide journalism awards, including the Genevieve Mauck Stoufer Outstanding Young Iowa Journalists Award. As deputy sports editor, Matthew oversaw the Register’s recruiting coverage while also innovating the outlet’s high school sports coverage. Matthew graduated from San Diego State and grew up in California, but he’s somehow a Boston Celtics fan. Long story. Matthew also led coverage of Prop 26 vs. Prop 27 in the California sports betting election battle for Catena Media.

View all posts by Matthew Bain

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