There was a “betting riot” at Fenway Park in 1917, a point-shaving scandal at Boston College 45 years ago, and a bookmaker never more than two phone calls away in Massachusetts for decades before legal sports betting launched here earlier this year.
Little wonder why legal sports betting went from $0 to $4.313 billion in Massachusetts during 2023.
The state’s legal retail and online sportsbooks have generated $4,313,764,999.06 in handle through Nov. 30. Retail sports betting began in Massachusetts on Jan. 31. Mobile and online betting launched on March 10.
You may have seen a few (thousand) TV commercials about it.
The state’s retail and online sportsbooks have posted an adjusted gross revenue of $410,638,372.68 and paid $81,788,017.40 to the state in taxes.
As we noted last week, the (State) House always wins.
With $81.7 million in taxes collected after just 265 days of mobile betting, the state has crushed its high-end estimate of $70 million in sports betting revenue in Year 1.
How did this happen?
“I think that the industries are probably providing some good products that are capturing the attention of those who are interested in betting in a legal market,” Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chair Cathy Stein said in an interview the other day.
“It’s been a busy one. I’m really tickled,” said Stein when asked about Year 1. “We want a framework in the regulatory field that will always make all consumers feel that they can trust Massachusetts sports wagering.”
Massachusetts still has several so-called “untethered” mobile licenses available. Meanwhile, Suffolk Downs and Raynham Park have yet to open their retail books, nor partner with an online operator as state law allows. Bet365 opted out of the state over concerns due to overregulation.
Suffolk Downs and Boston-based DraftKings could announce a deal early next year to operate a retail sportsbook in Boston in the Causeway Street area. But no one on either side is talking. Raynham Park had a deal to open its new retail sportsbook with Caesars, but that collapsed last summer.
“There are probably assessments being made by the industry and operators,” Stein said in regard to the still-available licenses.
There have been more than 1.62 million online sports betting accounts created by bettors over 21 in Massachusetts this year, the MGC said.
At times, It seems they all belong to family members and friends. But that’s not the case.
This is an impressive or terrifying number given the state’s population of 7.01 million, with 5 million or so age-eligible to bet. One person can legally have as many as 8 different accounts (one with each online operator), or 24 if you add their dog, and significant-other.
The degenerate gambler buried deep inside me swells with pride at these numbers in my home state. And (shameless plug/full-disclosure alert) in my other life as a Senior Betting Analyst for bookies.com and GDC Group, it’s been good for business. My first bet was placed at age 11 in Arlington. My passions of sports, betting, and journalism were on a crash course for 43 years before they finally converged with that job in 2019.
With the expansion of legal gambling comes the expansion of the pre-existing conditions concerning problem, compulsive, and under-age gambling. Opponents of expanded gambling are correct when they say these issues are real whether the wager is legal or not.
Legal books in Massachusetts are not allowed to take wagers funded with credit cards. Geo-fencing technology monitors your location to within 3 feet. Age verification is required at sign-up time.
That does not guarantee a 1.000% save percentage.
And each regulation set up to protect consumers creates an opening for an illegal/offshore book, or a local bookmaker.
The art is striking the right balance to where the regulated market is vibrant enough to thrive without pushing — or keeping — too many gamblers underground.
“This stuff is complicated and sometimes our regs need to be tweaked. They need to be reviewed to make sure we’re not placing unreasonable demands on the operators, or that we might have actually created some unforeseen consequences,” Stein said.
Multiple books have been fined by the MGC for taking illegal wagers, mostly on colleges located within the state not playing in a tournament.
The most serious statutory violation occurred when DraftKings used money from credit card deposits made in other states to fund wagers in Massachusetts, the MGC said earlier this month. The MGC will hold an adjudicatory review hearing on that matter in the New Year.
DraftKings, which dominates Massachusetts with a 50% market share in handle, is facing a class-action lawsuit filed in Middlesex Superior Court claiming it engaged in deceptive marketing practices over a $1,000 bonus offer. DK has said it “respectfully disagrees with the claims.”
What about all those TV commercials?
“We have pressed the limits of our sports wagering law and the First Amendment on our advertising regulation,” Stein said.
Given gambling’s entrenched spot as the world’s second-oldest profession, everything old is new again.
Stein praised operators for being willing to work with the MGC to do more in curtailing access to those under 21. She called that a “priority for us.”
The MGC has “prioritized consumer protections and responsible gaming,” Stein said. “Setting up that regulated market was in the Commonwealth’s interest, that it would provide for those bettors tools that will protect them.”
Stein sees “responsible gaming” as a tool to help bettors make an “informed choice grounded in research.”
“We work in the responsible gaming field to make sure they don’t shift into that problem gambling, that they have tools available, restrictions on playing, restrictions on time, budget setting devices, so that they can make responsible, informed player choice decision-making that’s going to be healthy for them.”
In other words, fade the Patriots this week at Buffalo.
Bill Speros (@RealOBF & @BillSperos) is a Senior Betting Analyst for bookies.com when he’s not writing here. He can be reached at bsperos1@gmail.com.