BOSTON (State House News Service) — People in Massachusetts wagered more than $571.76 million on sporting events that took place in October, pumped another $794.1 million into slot machines and risked an untold amount on casino table games. All that gambling activity translated into about $39 million in tax revenue for the state, the Mass. Gaming Commission said Wednesday.
The state's slots parlor and resort-style casinos (Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor in Everett) generated $96.67 million in gross gaming revenue last month, and the physical sportsbooks at those facilities plus eight online sports betting platforms raked in a cumulative $59.18 million in taxable sports wagering revenue. Casino gambling yielded $27.23 million in tax revenue for the state last month and sports betting added nearly $11.79 million, totaling roughly $39.02 million for the state.
Sports bettors wagered more money on October sporting events ($571.76 million) than for events in any other month since legal betting launched here in January. The previous high-water mark was the $568.22 million wagered on events in March. Nearly all of the money wagered was processed online ($555.73 million).
Among the eight online sports betting platforms, DraftKings continues to take the most action. The Boston-based platform took more than $304.76 million in bets on October games, almost twice as much as runner-up FanDuel ($155.56 million).
For the state's three physical gambling centers, last month's $96.67 million in revenue fell just short of last October's $97.3 million take, but still surpassed the October totals from 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Since Plainridge Park ushered in a new era of legal gambling here in 2015, Massachusetts has collected about $1.568 billion in taxes and assessments from casino operations. Since legal sports betting began here on Jan. 31 (in-person betting only, online betting started March 10), the state has counted $72.05 million in total tax and assessment revenue from sports wagering operations, the Gaming Commission said.
Written by Colin A. Young/SHNS
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