The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported on Friday $82.5 million in gross sports betting revenue for May as Bay State sportsbooks maintained the nation’s status quo with a belting of the betting public.
Revenue was up 40% from last year, easily outpacing the 11.7% bump in handle to $655.8 million. The 12.6% hold ranks third all-time in 27 months with mobile wagering available and marked the third time in as many years operators posted a collective double-digit win rate in the month of May.
The state was eligible to levy taxes on $80.7 million in adjusted gross revenue, re-directing $16.1 million to its coffers. The $71.6 million in receipts thus far in 2025 is $16.3 million ahead of last year’s pace as the $358.7 million in year-to-date AGR is up 30%.
Massachusetts is one of 20 states to post a double-digit hold among 22 that have reported handle and revenue figures for May. The nationwide hold is 11.6% for the month with operators claiming $898.2 million in revenue from $7.71 billion handle.
Celtics’ loss is sportsbooks gain
Massachusetts sportsbooks had a bumper May in part due to the inability of the Boston Celtics to repeat as NBA champions. The Celtics, who were seeded second in the Eastern Conference, were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs in six games by the New York Knicks. The series ending May 15 meant a large amount of futures tickets that had the Celtics repeating as either conference champions or NBA champions — be it single event or as part of parlays — were graded during the month.
Massachusetts mobile sports betting always starts with the home-state book: DraftKings. May marked another month where it garnered more than 50% of the mobile handle at $330.8 million, and it was the fourth time this year with a double-digit hold.
The 12.8% win rate resulted in $42.4 million in gross revenue, ranking third all-time behind January ($52.7 million) and November ($45.1 million). DraftKings has an 11.5% hold thus far for the year, reaping $200 million from $1.74 billion handle.
Despite a small slip in handle from last year to $171.9 million, FanDuel saw a 15.8% uptick in revenue to $23.5 million on the strength of a 13.7% hold. That trailed only the 14.8% win rate attained in May 2023 and marked its second monthly hold of 13.5% or higher this year.
May’s haul was also enough for FanDuel to top $100 million in year-to-date revenue, while pushing its hold for 2025 above 11%.
Overall, four of the state’s seven digital operators notched holds of 12% or higher. Fanatics took the final podium spot for revenue, reaching an all-time high of $5.9 million with a 12.7% hold on $46.3 million worth of wagers.
Fanatics has topped $2.2 million in revenue every month this year, and its aggressive courting of bettors via promotional spend — despite the inability to deduct those credits — has it on track to surpass its 2024 full-year total of $20.2 million in gross revenue when June’s report is released. Fanatics has rung up $18.1 million in winnings this year despite an 8.4% hold; its $214.8 million handle represents an increase of 123.7% from 2024.
BetMGM topped $5 million for the second time this year, securing a 10.2% hold on $49.2 million handle. It was BetMGM’s first double-digit win rate since last September, contributing to a 60.5% surge in revenue from last year.
Filling in the full picture
ESPN Bet ($2.7 million), Caesars ($1.8 million), and Bally Bet ($223,300) rounded out the revenue totals, with ESPN Bet notching a 12.2% hold and Caesars landing at 8.5%. Bally Bet had its third consecutive month with a sub-5% win rate, and its 6.1% hold for the year ranks ahead of only Caesars’ 5.5%.
But Bay State sportsbooks overall have a 10.5% hold on $3.5 billion handle for the first five months of the year, more than 1.1 percentage points higher than the first five months of 2024.
Massachusetts’ three retail sportsbooks chipped in just over $1 million in gross revenue as their combined hold landed just shy of 10%. It was the first time since November that Boston Encore Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park combined to reach seven figures in monthly revenue.
