Sports betting off to fast start in Mass.

Three findings popped out from the results of the first 22 days of online sports betting in Massachusetts. One, there’s a healthy appetite for sports betting in the state, with bettors ponying up more than half a billion dollars — $568,091,233 — last month. Two, bettors showed an overwhelming preference — 96.5 percent vs. 3.5 percent — to bet online rather than visit one of the three sportsbooks in the state. And three, the combination of being local and spending heavily on advertising featuring local sports icons helped DraftKings grab 47 percent of the wagers made among the six online operators that launched March 10, according to last month’s figures released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Trailing the $257-plus million bet with Bostonbased DraftKings was the $181-plus million wagered with nationwide market share leader FanDuel, with 33 percent of the market. That left 20 percent of the market to four others: BetMGM with 8.3 percent, Barstool with 5.4 percent, WynnBEt with 3.3 percent, and Caesars with 3 percent. Nationwide, FanDuel has about 47 percent of the market, with DraftKings at 27 percent, BetMGM at 11 percent, and all others below 10 percent, according to February figures from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG). An EKG analysis Tuesday described the March numbers as “a very punchy opening month for Massachusetts,” noting that the adult per capita wagering figure of $165 in the state was higher than two other new sports betting states, Ohio ($123) and Maryland ($153). Citing digital advertising data from Pathmatics, the analysis suggested that “Boston was the most targeted media market among leading US online sports betting brands.”