One of the country’s crown jewels when it comes to legalized sports betting is less than a month from opening its doors for online wagering.
When Massachusetts sports betting apps go live at 10 a.m. March 10, they will follow Ohio, which launched on New Year’s Day, as the nation’s second opening of 2023.
The Bay State joined the more than 30 states and District of Columbia with some form of legalized wagering earlier this year when a handful of retail Massachusetts sportsbooks opened their doors to the public.
BetMassachusetts.com, your home for kickoff deals like the BetMGM Massachusetts bonus code, wanted to project how big the sports betting handle could be in Year 1.
We used Arizona as a model, as the state has similar adult population numbers and access to the “Big Four” professional sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL).
Select States in Their First Year of Sports Betting
BetMassachusetts.com is your home for Massachusetts betting promos in the days leading up to the state’s mobile launch.
Massachusetts Primed For Historic Year 1
It’s no wonder why national sportsbooks have their eyes on the state, as projections indicate it could stand with some of the nation's top markets in its first year of operations. Especially DraftKings Massachusetts, which is based in Boston.
Using Arizona as a model, Massachusetts sportsbooks are projected to rake in $5.3 billion in wagers Year 1.
To determine this projection, we multiplied Massachusetts’ latest Census population figure of adults in the state (5,620,489) by Arizona’s first year handle per adult average of $948.40.
If Massachusetts is able to take in more than $5.3 billion in first-year handle, it would rank in the same ballpark as states like Illinois ($5.5 billion in first-year handle), Arizona ($5.43 billion) and Virginia ($3.22 billion).
And the state’s sportsbooks would rank ahead of Michigan ($1.98 billion), Pennsylvania ($1.165 billion) and Louisiana ($1.85 billion).
What About March Madness?
It’s no doubt March Madness is one of the most popular betting events in the country, with the American Gaming Association projecting $3.1 billion was wagered on last year’s event nationally.
While the AGA doesn’t give state-by-state breakdowns on March Madness handles, we can come up with a ballpark estimate for the Bay State based on data that’s available.
As an example, Arizona had $690,979,294 in handle in March 2022. If you divide that number by the 31 days in the month and multiple it by the 10 days NCAA Tournament games were played, you get a rough estimate of $222.89 million in NCAA handle.
Based on that projection, it’s possible Massachusetts sportsbooks could rake in as much as $218 million in wagers during the March run of this year’s tournament.
A year ago, Illinois, with almost double the population of Massachusetts, reported $286 million was wagered during the entire run of the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament — although Illinois only allows wagering on state-based universities at retail sportsbook locations.
Remember to check back with BetMassachusetts to find out about all the top in-state offers, like the FanDuel Massachusetts promo code.
