The first day of legal Massachusetts sports betting is now officially in the books. While the books, the sports kind that is, didn’t fare too well in terms of making money off sports betting on Jan. 31, 2023, it was still a momentous occasion for them.
The physical sportsbooks inside Massachusetts’ two casinos and sole slot parlor saw bettors plunk down over half a million dollars on that date. That was just a fraction of the gaming action they saw during the first month of 2023, however.
First-ever Massachusetts sports betting returns
On Feb. 15, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission posted casino numbers for January 2023. Legal in-person sports betting began at 10 a.m. at Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park on the final day of the month.
Thus, January’s revenue reports included the first tallies of legal sports betting activity in Massachusetts history. The three casinos combined to show $510,948.04 in bets on that day.
- Encore – $370,881.75
- Plainridge – $82,830.49
- MGM – $57,235.80
Encore contributed around 72.5% of the total due to its location in the greater Boston area. While Encore might have led the way in terms of taking the greatest value of bets, it pulled down the win total for the three sportsbooks. Altogether, the three casinos lost $7,248.76 on Jan. 31 in terms of revenue.
- Plainridge – $53,758.54
- MGM – $12,295.65
- Encore – -$73,302.95
Plainridge winning just under 65% of the dollars bet at its sportsbook made for a successful day at that book. Encore again raked it in with poker, slots, and table games during January, though.
Other casino revenue blows sportsbook totals away
Encore continued its trend of being the highest revenue earner among Massachusetts gambling facilities in January 2023. All three facilities together reported $85.6 million for the month from their poker, slots, and table games.
- Encore – $61.8 million
- MGM – $22.8 million
- Plainridge – $1 million
While Encore accounted for the majority of the statewide gaming revenue as it always does, all three facilities improved upon their numbers from the same month a year ago. In January 2022, the three gambling establishments claimed $58.9 million in revenue. January 2023, therefore, represented a healthy 31.2% improvement year-over-year.
Sportsbook revenue has a solid chance to show some growth in its next report with a full month of activity and Super Bowl betting factoring in. Then with legal online sportsbooks slated to potentially launch on March 10, future totals should only increase.
