The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported on Wednesday $892.2 million in sports betting handle for October as the Bay State joined a growing list of those that have posted record monthly wagering amounts.
The previous record was $800.3 million established in September, and action in October was up 19.3% compared to last year.
Massachusetts became the 15th state to post an all-time high for handle this October among the 23 that have published figures so far for the month.
Bay State sportsbooks rode the surprising resurgence of the New England Patriots, who swept their four games in October and currently lead the AFC with a 9-2 record after going 4-13 last season. That helped offset the uneven performances by Boston’s other two sports teams as the Celtics and Bruins got off to slow starts to their respective seasons. Operators also got two games of local baseball wagering in October as the Red Sox fell to the New York Yankees in the wild card round.
A collective statewide hold of 8.2% generated $73.5 million in gross revenue, a year-over-year increase of 46.6% as the win rate was more than 1.5 percentage points higher. The state levied taxes on $71.3 million in adjusted gross winnings, redirecting $14.2 million to its coffers.
DraftKings remains untouchable in home state
Commercial sports betting in nearly every state and jurisdiction usually revolves around FanDuel and DraftKings, then everyone else. But in its home state, DraftKings has essentially split Massachusetts in two by consistently commandeering 50%-plus of the mobile market share.
The Boston-based juggernaut furthered its state record for monthly in handle, reaching $447.4 million in October. That was up 16.7% from a year ago and marked DraftKings’ second straight month above $400 million.
It contributed to a 55.9% surge in revenue to $39.6 million as its 8.9% win rate was 2.2 percentage points higher. The strong October also lifted DraftKings’ year-to-date revenue above $350 million, higher than its full-year 2024 haul of $343.7 million.
FanDuel did not lack for business, its $237.3 million worth of wagers representing a 10.1% increase and trailing only its $241.5 million reported last December. Revenue ticked 14.1% higher to $17.9 million as its 7.5% hold was up barely more than one quarter of a percentage point.
Fanatics continues to rack up no. 3 spots
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission does not disclose promotional spend in its monthly reports since operators cannot deduct them against gross revenue, but Fanatics has spent the fall chasing business. It followed up a record September handle of $83.1 million with another $82.4 million, doubling its year-over-year handle for the second straight month.
Securing the no. 3 spot has been a priority for Fanatics, which was also able to achieve that status in other large-market states such as Illinois and Pennsylvania. It also has been in the mix for the final podium spot in New York on a more consistent basis this year. This may loom even larger in the coming months as FanDuel and DraftKings ponder their respective futures in prediction markets and face potential showdowns with state regulators.
The better news for Fanatics in Massachusetts was a notably better outcome in terms of performance compared to the previous October; its 9.3% hold was 3.4 percentage points higher. The result was an all-time high of $7.7 million in revenue, more than a three-fold increase and a near-$1.8 million improvement on its previous high from May.
Fanatics crossed $500 million in year-to-date handle and $900 million since launch in May 2023. It has already more than doubled its 2024 revenue at $43.5 million in the first 10 months of this year.
Filling in the rest of the picture
The balance of action among Massachusetts’ other sportsbooks saw BetMGM take roughly half with $55 million worth of wagers, followed by ESPN Bet ($27.7 million), Caesars ($25 million), and Bally Bet ($4.8 million). BetMGM also finished atop the quartet in revenue at $3.7 million, which was flat compared to last year as its 6.7% hold was down nearly three-quarters of a percentage point from October 2024.
Outgoing ESPN Bet had the best win rate of the foursome at 7.9%, picking up $2.2 million in winnings. Caesars was low book on the totem pole at just under 6% in collecting $1.5 million. It was the sixth time this year Caesars had a sub-6% win rate. Bally’s had a 10.7% downturn in revenue to $326,500 as its 6.8% win rate was off by more than one-third of a point.
