August Sports Betting Handle Sees Spike in Massachusetts

For the first time in six months, the bettors punched back. While an August handle of $314.9 million was up 6.8% month-over-month, sportsbooks saw gross revenue drop 23% to $23.5 million, according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

Old Bay State’s legal sports betting operators have more or less been dominated since online wagering went live in March. 

For the first time in six months, the bettors punched back. While an August handle of $314.9 million was up 6.8% month-over-month, sportsbooks saw gross revenue drop 23% to $23.5 million, according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. 

August marked the lowest gross and adjusted revenue month recorded in Massachusetts for mobile sportsbooks.

It was the first month of NFL preseason and a light mix of college football games to wager on in Massachusetts, so there’s nothing to compare it to, but it was a good start for bettors. Online betting site operators, which took in 97% of monthly wagers in the Old Bay State, saw their hold fall to 7.6% in August. The six-month average is over 10%. 

It was an even worse month for retail operators, which recorded a handle of $7.7 million and a hold of 2.3%.

The state still hauled in $4.5 million from the 20% tax rate to go over $50 million for the year.

DraftKings does it again

DraftKings made up over 50% of the overall handle for the second consecutive month and dwarfed competitors at $161.9 million, which put the online sportsbook over $1 billion. DraftKings recorded a hold of 6.9% to claim gross revenue of $11.2 million in August. 

FanDuel came in second in August with a handle of $79.4 million, but it posted a higher hold of 9.6% to haul in $7.6 million in revenue. 

BetMGM finished third with a handle of $21.2 million and used a solid 11.6% win rate to produce $2.5 million in gross revenue. 

Barstool, which will soon be transitioning to ESPN Bet, edged out Caesars for fourth place with a handle of $16.4 million. Caesars took in $14.6 million in wagers and produced a hold of just 4.1%, tied for lowest in the state. 

Fanatics posted its best handle with $4.4 million, nearly double July’s mark, in its fourth month of operating in Massachusetts. The newcomer also enjoyed a state-best 12.6% hold. 

Retail sportsbook takes a loss

Boston Encore Harbor was the primary reason for retail’s overall poor showing in August. The brick-and-mortar sportsbook took a loss of $48,027 on a handle of $4 million.

Plainridge Park accepted $2.8 million in wagers, with a retail-best 7.4% hold, while MGM Springfield recorded a handle of $912,651.