The Massachusetts sports betting industry achieved a record high of $94.4 million in gross gaming receipts in January. The industry also recorded its third-highest monthly handle since legalizing its gambling market in 2023.
The $93.6 million sports betting revenues marked a 32.8% increase from the $71.1 million reported in January 2024. This also exceeds the previous high of $75.4 million, which was recorded in November 2024 according to data from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC).
Massachusetts sports betting revenue surge comes at an unprecedented time since the sports betting economy in most states are experiencing some decrease in gross gaming receipts. Just recently, Pennsylvania reported a 26.4% year-on-year dip on their sports betting revenue. This is according to data released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on February 20th.
Massachusetts generated roughly $93.6 million in revenue from online sports betting in January while retail betting accounted for $778,593 of the monthly revenue. Betting activity has also been quite high in Massachusetts and a lot of that is likely due to the stellar performances of Boston teams such as the Bruins and the Celtics.
The fact that the Massachusetts sports betting market is relatively new may also play a role in why the state is bucking the trend. Massachusetts legalized sports betting in 2022, while Pennsylvania started issuing betting licenses in 2018.
The MGC estimates player spending reached $762.5 million in January, which is a 17% increase compared to last year. This nearly beat December’s record $788.3 million spend. The MGC added that online betting spend accounted for most of that value at $751.4 million, with spending at retail bookmakers totaling at $11.1 million.
As expected, DraftKings Sportsbook remained one of the best Massachusetts sportsbooks in the Codfish State accumulating for nearly $52 million in revenue off a $377.1 million handle. Its closest rival is FanDuel Sportsbook and it finished in far second with $28.8 million in revenue off $217.3 million in sports wagers.
BetMGM took third for an 8.7% hold after generating $5.5 million from $63.2 million in bets while Fanatics. ESPN Bet rounded the top five with $3.5 million and $2.3 million in sports betting revenues in January. Other players such as Caesars Sportsbook followed with $1.2 million for a 5.22% hold while Bally Bet completed the rankings with $493,996 off $4.7 million bets.
Meanwhile, Plainridge Park Casino took the lead for retail sports betting with $413,922 in revenues while Encore Boston Harbor registered $365,031 in revenue for $6.2 million in bets. MGM Springfield, on the other hand, reportedly took $1.1 million in bets but were unable to report any revenue in January.
DraftKings Sportsbook has been a significant player in Massachusetts ever since the state legalized sports betting back in 2022. Across the US, DraftKings generated an estimated $4.9 billion in revenue throughout 2024.
MGC has also revealed that the state’s land-based casino market is growing steadily. As per recent numbers, Massachusetts has generated $97.9 million in casino revenues for January 2025, which is a 4.7% increase from last year’s numbers. However, despite the year-over-year growth in casino revenue for January, overall tax revenue 4.2% lower than what was collected in December 2024.
Slot gaming accounted for most of the casino revenue with $66.2 million while table games such as blackjack were not far behind, generating $31.7 million in January.
Meanwhile, Encore Boston Harbor remained the highest-performing casino, reporting $61.4 in gross gaming profits while MGM Springfield finished in second with $22.8 million followed by Plainridge Park Casino’s $13.8 million monthly revenue.
All of this revenue also generated significant tax income. The industry paid the state of Massachusetts roughly $46.6 million in January. Nearly $28 million of this were generated from casino gaming while the Massachusetts sports betting industry added $18.8 million
