Massachusetts Sports Betting Sets Revenue Record

The Massachusetts sports betting market seems ready to close the 2024 calendar on a high note.

According to the latest reports from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, The Bay State set an all-time record for both monthly handle and tax revenue during September 2024.

Data for the rest of the year will have to wait. These reports typically release one or two months after the fact.

In the interim, though, it feels fair to ask: Is sports betting in Massachusetts exceeding initial expectations?

Massachusetts Sports Betting Accepted Over $675 Million in Wagers During September

James Gazzale of Legal Sports Report breaks down the full returns from the record-setting September Massachusetts sports betting turned in:

“September set multiple MA sports betting revenue records, as operators and regulators saw handle and tax collections reach new monthly highs. According to the latest state report, bettors staked $678.7 million in the Massachusetts sports betting market during the month. The previous handle benchmark, at $658.7 million, was set earlier this year in March. Operators kept more than 11 percent of the handle for $75.4 million in revenue. The September tax payment topped $14.6 million, besting the market’s previous high of $14.2 million from January this year. The state has collected $187.9 million in sports betting taxes since the market opened in January 2023.”

These returns are especially eye-opening because we are not just talking about the Massachusetts sports betting handle (i.e. the total dollar amount of wagers placed). The Bay State also broke its single-month tax revenue record. That is a much bigger deal.

It also raises two questions: What factors led to such a lucrative September? And is there anything we can glean from it when looking ahead?

The Biggest Factors That Drove Massachusetts Betting Success in September

Two things stand out above all else. First, the Massachusetts sports betting era is not especially young. Though it was legalized in 2022, the rollout did not occur until January 2023. Plus, Massachusetts did not officially join the ranks of those offering online sports betting in the United States until March 2023. By design, brick-and-mortar locations were given a head start when unveiling their operations.

To that end, we are talking about a nine-month sample size. It is much easier to set and reset records when the market is so young—infantile enough that it doesn’t even have year over year comparisons to make.

On top of that, September is when betting on the NFL crescendos to a fever pitch. If we had to guess, it is probably the single busiest month for betting on football. That includes betting on the Super Bowl in February.

Still, this doesn’t necessarily explain the tax-revenue jump. The handle? Sure. More money being bet equates to a bigger handle. But because so many of those wagers are often football futures, you could argue the profit margin should be slimmer. After all, those particular bets are not resolved right away. Some will not go down as wins or losses until the end of the season.

NFL Upsets Galore May Have Helped Drive Up The Bay State’s September Returns

This naturally brings us to the third factor potentially impacting September returns for Massachusetts sports betting. It is also related to the NFL. As ESPN’s David Purdum reported in November:

“Twenty-six NFL favorites lost outright in September, the most in the opening month of the season since 2002. The largest favorite on the board was upset in each of the first three weeks, and teams that were favored by six or more points went 9-13 straight-up and a dismal 3-19 against the spread for the month. Touchdown favorites had never had a losing record straight-up over a month in the Super Bowl era—until September 2024.”

Granted, this isn’t a perfect correlation. Purdum was explaining how sportsbooks in Nevada had their best month ever in September. But their uptick aligns with that of Massachusetts sports betting operators. Even if the match isn’t perfect, an unusual number of upsets is almost always a moneymaker for sportsbooks.

Most moneyline bets tend to skew toward the favorite. This is especially true when single games include ultra-heavy underdogs. If you flip the expected result on those wagers, it stands to reason that sportsbooks in Massachusetts will turn a higher profit, as more people will have placed losing wagers.

Could This Be Part of a Larger Trend in Massachusetts Sports Betting?

Everything we have discussed points toward September being a blip on the larger Massachusetts sports betting radar. This is to say, sportsbooks in The Bay State should not get used to collecting so much revenue in a given month.

The same goes for Massachusetts sports betting regulators. Think about it: As of now, the $75.4 million in tax revenue the state made during September represents 40 percent of the entire year’s profit. It would be foolish to think that this is part of a larger trend.

Then again, we obviously cannot say for certain. Maybe online sports betting in Massachusetts is growing in popularity. Or perhaps this speaks to the over impact NFL betting in Massachusetts will have on results during the regular season.

Personally, we would bet against this being the normal, even during the peak of football betting season. With that said, we cannot technically know for sure until more months that include online NFL betting in Massachusetts start to trickle in. And that means we should pay close attention when the revenue reports are released for October, November and December.

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