Massachusetts mobile sports betting debuts with 400,000 accounts, fifth busiest state in first weekend

More than 400,000 mobile sports betting accounts have been activated in Massachusetts since the activity went live last Friday. Additionally, more than 8 million transactions took place, making the Bay State the fifth busiest mobile wagering state in the country last weekend, as per data from geolocation and fraud detection services company GeoComply.

The company said Tuesday that it recorded 406,437 unique player accounts and 8.1 million geolocation transactions across the six mobile operators that went live last week. The company said it also prevented more than 5,000 transactions from "devices or accounts with a known history of fraud, saving its customers tens of thousands of dollars."

"Today, one of the biggest challenges facing operators is onboarding genuine players and keeping out fraudsters," Lindsay Slader, GeoComply's senior vice president of compliance. "With the gold standard of geolocation in place and an experienced team of experts, we are uniquely positioned to lead the fight against fraud in all its forms."

Based on Commonwealth officials’ estimates of annualized tax revenue of $60 million, Massachusetts would add about $5.4 million to the Public Health Trust Fund, which largely supports responsible gambling programs. While in-person betting began at the end of January, mobile betting is expected to quickly become the main form of sports betting and further drive tax revenue to the state.

“We are privileged to be licensed in Massachusetts and support operators and the MGC as it builds a regulated online sports betting market with responsible gambling hard-boiled into its regulations,” added Slader. “Massachusetts citizens will benefit from legal online sportsbooks dedicated to greater protection and an increased budget for responsible gambling programs.”

Massachusetts figures on launch weekend far outstripped those of similar-sized states including Arizona, Virginia, Indiana and Maryland. All in all, it was the fifth busiest state in the US over the weekend, with only New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York recording more geolocation transactions, notes the company.

Massachusetts’ mobile betting launch comes a little over a month after in-person wagering started at the state’s three land-based casinos on January 31; and seven months after the practice was legalized when then-governor Charlie Baker signed the Sports Wagering Act into law on August 10, 2022. 

Six sportsbook apps went live on Friday: Caesars Sportsbook, BetMGM Sportsbook, WynnBET, Barstool Sportsbook, FanDuel and DraftKings. Massachusetts follows Ohio, which launched on New Year’s Day, as the nation’s second opening of 2023.

Over 2 million residents are expected to wager $5.3 billion on sports this year in the Bay State, according to research by BetMassachusetts.com, a sports betting information site that launched in March 2022. The number of bettors equals 41% of eligible Massachusetts adults.