Mass. Sportsbook Numbers Come in for Opening Day

Mass. Sportsbook Numbers Come in for Opening Day
Fact Checked by Pat McLoone

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) announced Wednesday its official casino figures for the month of January.

One new addition: It also reported the first official Massachusetts sportsbooks wagering figures for the month, even though it was for just one day: Jan. 31 (the state’s launch day).

All three casinos in the state â€” MGM Springfield (BetMGM Massachusetts, Plainridge Park Casino (Barstool Sportsbook), and Encore Boston Harbor in Everett (WynnBET) — went live at 10 a.m. that day as the first wagers were placed in state history.

Fourteen hours later here is what tallied:

  • Total retail handle for the three: $510,948
  • Approximately $65,706 in Gross Sports Wagering Revenue (GSWR) was generated at MGM and PPC (combined) for that day.
  • EBH reported losses of $75,230 in GSWR.
  • For the one day, the state had -$7,596 in sports betting revenue.
  • The state collected approximately $9,861 in total taxes from sports wagering for the month of January (one day of operations).

All three Category 1 (retail) sports wagering operators are taxed on 15% of GSWR. Of that taxed amount, 45% is allotted to the state’s General Fund, 27.5% to the Gaming Local Aid Fund, 17.5% to the Workforce Investment Trust Fund, 9% to the Public Health Trust Fund and 1% to the Youth Development and Achievement Fund.

As for the EBH losses, the state’s Sports Wagering Law allows the operator to carry over the negative amount in tax liability to returns filed for subsequent months.

Sports betting apps in Massachusetts are set to launch March 10.

On the Casino Front for January

All three casinos generated more than $96.87 million in Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) for January, a decrease of 6.2% from Dec. 2022 ($103,240,719).

The individual revenue breakdown for all three casinos:

To date, the Commonwealth has collected approximately $1.317 billion in total taxes and assessments.

Keep an eye out on BetMassachusetts.com for Massachusetts sportsbook promo codes.

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Author

Lou Monaco had been East Coast Scene columnist for Gaming Today in Las Vegas since June 2019, covering the East Coast sportsbook scene. He also currently is a part-time writer for the high school sports department for NJ Advanced Media (NJ.com) in Iselin, NJ. Lou has over 30 years sports experience with previous stints at ESPN SportsTicker, Daily Racing Form and Oddschecker.

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