After legislators in the Bay State passed a law permitting sports wagering in August of 2022, retail sports betting went live at three brick-and-mortar facilities across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on January 31, just in time for prospective bettors to place their wagers on the outcome of Super Bowl LVII.

While the Super Bowl is the biggest sports betting event of the year, we won’t know just how much it affected the economy in Massachusetts for a few weeks. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) plans to release revenue updates from sports betting on a monthly basis, so it’ll be sometime in March before the data is compiled from the first full month of legal sports betting. Once those figures are public it’ll be possible to see just how betting will impact the economy.

The Super Bowl isn’t the only massive event for bettors located in Massachusetts to wager on this year. The Boston Celtics lead the NBA with a 41-16 record and have been the favorite to win the Finals since the end of last season. Odds vary slightly from sportsbook to sportsbook, but the C’s are currently listed at around +350 to win it all at a handful of mobile betting platforms, the mentioned ones also offer promo codes in Massachusetts. Recently it was announced that mobile wagering is set to go online on March 10, just ahead of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, which will also give Celtics’ fans plenty of time to wager on their team before the playoffs begin.

Tax Money: Where Does it Go?

Winning bets placed at the three brick-and-mortar facilities in the Commonwealth (located in Boston, Springfield, and Plainville) will be subject to a 15 percent Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) tax levied by Massachusetts. The federal gaming tax rate skims another 24 percent of the prize. Mobile bets will receive a 20 percent state tax, giving an incentive for bettors to wager in person. When the house wins, the Bay State levies a 25 percent tax.

State revenue from the GGR tax is largely paid back into the community: some of the money goes toward the Public Health Trust Fund in an attempt to help those with gambling addictions.

The bill that legalized sports wagering contained provisions for two new funds designed to help the people of Massachusetts, the Workforce Investment Trust Fund and the Youth Development and Achievement Fund.

Per PlayMA.com, “The Workforce Investment Trust Fund will offer grants to programs and organizations that provide job training, adult literacy programs, and opportunities that the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development believes will make the state’s workforce more competitive.

“The Youth Development and Achievement Fund will fund tuition for higher education, after-school and extracurricular activities, and other academic programs.”

Initial projections for the amount of revenue generated by the GGR tax are pretty modest, set at around $60 million per year. Compared to the Massachusetts budget plan for the 2023 Fiscal Year, which came in at $52.7 billion, revenue from the gaming tax is a veritable drop in the pond. By creating new programs designed specifically to help the people of the Bay State, however, the money is going to good causes that wouldn’t have existed otherwise…and projections for gambling revenue have been way too low in the past as sports betting continues to take the nation by storm.

What’s Next?

Plans have been in the works to add a fourth casino to the Commonwealth for the better part of a decade. The United States Department of the Interior brought 321 acres of land in Taunton into federal trust in order to establish a reservation for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in 2015. Some of the lands was set aside for a casino, and workers broke ground on the First Light Resort and Casino the following spring. It’s been in development hell ever since, however, as locals in Taunton have tried to combat the federal government’s absorption of land.

A district judge ruled in favor of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on February 10, 2023, but it remains to be seen if the lead plaintiff, Michelle Littlefield, will appeal the ruling…not to mention how long it will take for the casino to begin a business.

Massachusetts legislators attempted to pass a bill allowing for another casino, this one in the Leominster area, during the summer of 2022, but it died before reaching the floor. Given Leominster’s proximity to New Hampshire and Vermont (sports gambling isn’t yet legal in the Green Mountain State, and other forms of gambling are strictly regulated), the proposed casino would attempt to draw customers from out of state. Whether the bill is proposed again will be a key storyline to watch during the upcoming legislative session.