Sports News

Mass. sports betting grew in April, DraftKings increased local market share

The growing disparity in mobile vs. in-person betting led partly to a larger share of taxable revenue.

A bet is placed at Encore Boston Harbor casino in Jan. AP Photo/Steven Senne

May 16, 2023

1 minute to read

Even with most of March Madness in the rearview mirror, local sports betting continued to increase in Mass. during the month of April.

According to figures released by the Mass. Gaming Commission, in-state April betting totaled $579,262,823, up two percent from March ($568,091,233). One important distinction: Mobile sports betting didn’t begin until March 10, so the earlier figure was measured over less time.

Of the April total, mobile betting accounted for $566,236,866 (97.75 percent) In-person betting reached $13,025,956, a 34.8 percent drop from March ($19,988,765).

The increase in mobile betting — combined with the decrease in retail betting — resulted in a sizable growth of taxable revenue, as the mobile tax rate is 20 percent vs. 15 for in-person betting. Mass. saw $58,912,777 taxable revenue in April, a 25.2 percent increase over March ($47,060,911).

This resulted in an uptick in taxes collected from sports betting: $11,799,200 against $9,339,417 total from March.

Within the list of licensed sports betting companies approved to operate in Mass, DraftKings led the way with by far the largest market share. The locally-based DraftKings captured 50.1 percent, with rival FanDuel falling back to 30.5 percent.

Other online sportsbooks included in BetMGM (which accounted for 7.6 percent of the mobile market), Barstool (4.3 percent), Wynn (4.0 percent), and Caesars (3.4 percent).

Looking ahead, especially after the NHL and NBA playoffs are over, the Mass. sports betting market could cool down over the summer. However, experts point towards the fall (and the start of the NFL seasons) as a point when betting could begin to increase again.