Massachusetts Sports Betting Sees 8.1 Million Transactions In Its First Weekend

Massachusetts sports betting hasn’t even been around for a full week, but early indications are that the launch was a success. This is backed up by some recently released data from GeoComply, a top geolocation company.

Interestingly, the amount of new accounts and transactions came in a weekend that didn’t even have any March Madness games, with the event tipping off tonight with the First Four.

Massachusetts Records Over 8.1 Million First-Weekend Transactions

Starting with the March 10th, 2023 rollout of Massachusetts sports betting, the state got going with a strong weekend. According to GeoComply, the area saw a total of 406,400 player accounts throughout the weekend. The number that might stand out the most, however, is the number of transactions recorded throughout the weekend, with approximately 8.1 million in total.

To put these numbers in perspective, the company also compared this opening to other states with similar populations as Massachusetts (6.981 million), such as Virginia (8.683 million), Arizona (7.359 million), Indiana (6.833 million), and Maryland (6.164 million).

Massachusetts’ recorded accounts were more than double the next highest number on the list, with Maryland seeing a total of 187,507. Plus, the 8.1 million transactions from the Bay State outpaced other states like Maryland (5.2 million) and Arizona (4.9 million).

Checking in from CHI 📸 pic.twitter.com/LCtVI2Yu1w

— x – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 14, 2023

Responsible Gaming Remains A Focus

Heading into the rollout of Massachusetts sports betting, the topic of responsible gaming became increasingly important. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) posted in support of Problem Gaming Awareness Month just over a week before the state’s sports wagering launch.

The MGC emphasized the need for protecting consumers in this new sports betting landscape, as evidenced by the number of wagers that were blocked in the area. In fact, a total of 5,000 transactions were stopped by GeoComply, as they were from either accounts or devices that had been reported for fraud in the past.

The state’s sports betting tax revenue is also planned to benefit the Public Health Trust Fund. The organization works with numerous responsible gaming entities, and is expected to receive around $5.4 million every year from Massachusetts sports betting.

In 2011, Massachusetts retail casinos went live, which prompted the state to begin investing in responsible gaming as physical casinos such as Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield, and Encore Boston Harbor began to grow in popularity. All three of those Massachusetts casinos also now offer retail sports betting.

Jaylen Brown took over during the fourth quarter but we weren’t able to send the game to OT. pic.twitter.com/jAbaoZqeCR

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 14, 2023

First Weekend Handle Could Be Huge

While the GeoComply numbers give a basic look at accounts and transactions, the total handle in the state for the first weekend of mobile sports betting will be fascinating. There were plenty of Conference Championship games to wager on in college basketball as bettors began looking forward to March Madness.

Additionally, popular local teams played some big games over the weekend, with the Boston Celtics taking down the Atlanta Hawks 134-125 and the Boston Bruins playing the Detroit Red Wings twice, going 1-1 in the weekend series.