The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported a record $800.3 million sports betting handle for September on Monday, but sportsbooks did not capitalize on all that action.
The previous Bay State record for monthly wagering was $788.3 million last December and bettered the 2025 high of $772.5 million established in March. Handle was up 17.9% compared to last year, possibly boosted by the Boston Red Sox run to a wild card spot and the New England Patriots being highly competitive in their 2-2 start for the month.
While the state’s seven mobile operators and three retail counterparts rang up $54.3 million in revenue, that was 28% lower versus last September. The 6.8% hold was only the second in the last 23 state reports to miss the 7% industry standard for the month’s reporting. It was also the second-lowest in 32 full months of betting in Massachusetts, edging out only the 6.7% win rate last October.
The state collected $10.4 million in tax receipts from $52.3 million in adjusted gross revenue and completed the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2026 with $31.2 million. That is $1.7 million ahead of FY 2025.
DraftKings holds court in home state
DraftKings has fully played up “home-field advantage” as Massachusetts’ top mobile option, often securing 50% plus of all monthly online handle. The Boston-based book set another state record with $409.6 million worth of wagers, becoming the first to clear $400 million.
The downside was a 6.6% hold resulting in only $27.1 million in winnings. It was DraftKings’ lowest win rate since being held to 6.3% in its first month of action in the Bay State in March 2023. Revenue was down 31.7% year-over-year despite handle ticking 15.3% higher.
FanDuel was a distant second in both categories, claiming $16.4 million in revenue with an 8.5% hold on $192.6 million handle. September ended a four-month run of double-digit win rates for the digital leviathan as FanDuel’s revenue dipped 27% from 12 months ago.
The MGC does not disclose promotional spend, if any, since it does not allow for it to be deducted. However, it appears Fanatics utilized some sort of outlay to strong effect as its handle more than doubled from last year to a record $83.2 million in claiming third.
But like its counterparts, Fanatics saw potential revenue slip away by strong bettor performance. It had the lowest hold of the seven digital books at just under 4%, but the silver lining was the $3.3 million in winnings was up 72% year-over-year since its September 2024 win rate was only 5.1%. Fanatics has posted five sub-5% monthly holds since entering the Bay State in 2023; only Caesars (12) has more among current operators.
BetMGM pipped Fanatics for third in revenue with a $4.2 million haul on the strength of an 8.3% hold on $51.4 million worth of wagers. BetMGM and FanDuel were the only mobile books with an 8%-plus win rate for the month, a far cry from last September when four were in double digits and ESPN Bet narrowly missed that threshold at 9.95%.
