MOBILE BETTING TIP OFF
NCAA tourney bets could top $200M
With just days to take bets before March Madness begins, the state’s licensed sportsbooks are looking at a potential wagering windfall in the hundreds of millions after mobile betting goes live tomorrow.
“The difference between states with mobile and states with just in person is gigantic; at least 10 to one and maybe more so,” Professor Victor Matheson, an economist at the College of the Holy Cross, told the Herald. “It was fun when we opened up gaming at the casinos, but the real sports betting in Massachusetts happens on Friday when we open mobile gaming.”
After years of waiting, sports fans in Bay State will soon have over half-a-dozen ways to legally place a wager on professional and college contests from the comfort of their couches.
Betting in person at the state’s three licensed casinos launched at the end of January. Betting on mobile apps operated by sportsbooks Barstool, Betr, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and WynnBet is scheduled to commence Friday, with more companies planning to launch mobile operations in the weeks and months ahead.
It’s been a long time coming for Boston-based sportsbook DraftKings.
“It was just over 10 years ago when we launched DraftKings from a spare bedroom in Watertown, and now, we are proud to have the opportunity to deliver a safe and legal sports betting product to millions of diehard sports fans across Massachusetts,” Jason Robins, DraftKings’ CEO, said along with an announcement his company would begin taking bets in time for mobile launch.
“This launch will mark a major milestone for our company, and we’re proud to become the hometown sportsbook for customers in the Commonwealth,” he continued.
With the passage of An Act regulating sports wagering last summer, and following months of discussion by the state’s gaming commission about how the newly legalized industry will operate, Friday’s launch of mobile betting will make Massachusetts one of 26 U.S. states which allow adults over the age of 21 to remotely place a bet on sports.
According to estimates provided by the Department of Administration and Finance, sports wagering could soon send over $100 million in revenues — that’s an estimated $60 million in taxes and over $40 million in licensing fees — to the state coffers, with residents expected to spend upwards of an extra $5 billion gambling in fiscal 2024.
“When we see states like New Jersey and Arizona that have pretty well-established mobile betting, that’s about $1000 of handle per adult. That would put Mass at the $5 billion dollar range,” Matheson explained. “I would expect in 2024 there is no reason to believe that it’s not going to happen.”
Based on data taken out of Arizona, which began legal sports betting in September of 2021, BetMassachusetts.com estimates that between mobile and live betting the state could see $210 million gambled on March Madness alone. According to their expert on the Massachusetts market, Lou Monaco, a large portion of that will arrive via the web in the days before the tournament.
“This year’s NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament, which starts four days after mobile launch, will offer the first big sporting event for mobile users. That event could generate up to $60 million in wagers from mobile users alone,” Monaco said.
In the first day of in-person betting, the only period for which the state’s gaming commission has thus far received revenue reporting, Bay State betters gambled over $500,000, commissioners learned at their February 16 meeting.
The state made about $10,000 in taxes.