Celtics win charges up sports betting haul

The Boston Celtics run to Banner 18 delivered a massive boost to Bay State sports betting in June over last year.

The six online and three retail sports betting operators in the Bay State in June booked $509,356,529.22 in handle during the month of June, according to figures released Monday by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

That figure represents a 65.1% increase over June of 2023, The difference in handle between June 2023 and June 2024 was $177.33 million, according to Bookie.com.

Last June, the Celtics missed the NBA Finals when they lost the Eastern Conference finals to the Miami Heat in seven games. That series ended on May 26. The 2024 Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in the NBA Finals. All 5 games took place in June, with the Finals ending on June 17.

DraftKings continued its position of market dominance in its home state. The Boston-based book, which has a partnership with the Celtics, posted a handle of $263.66 million. That represented 51.6% of the overall market, in line with how things have gone since the launch of online betting in Massachusetts in March of 2023.

DraftKings Director of Race and Sports Johnny Avello said his book did well throughout the NBA season this year nationwide. Part of the success was because of the varied offers by the book, especially in its heavily-promoted same-game parlays. The books also enjoyed a profitable ride in the futures markets because the long-shots, like Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers, failed to win it all.

“We did well, overall. The season was a good season, it ended up good for us. No complaints,” Avello told bookies.com Monday before the MGC numbers were released.

“We continued to put up more offerings. Same-game parlays are more popular than before. OKC was a big hazard for us, as were the Los Angeles Lakers. (Futures markets) bettors took shots on higher-priced teams. The Celtics were never a high price.”

Boston opened the season at +375 to +400, depending on the book.

Two of the state’s three retail operators booked a loss on the month in taxable betting revenue. MGM Springfield reported $548,601.02 on the negative. Plainridge Park Casino saw $186,969.16 in losses in the same category.

Bally’s gets into the game

Bally’s became the 7th live online Massachusetts sports betting operator on July 1.

Bally’s Massachusetts had originally sought to launch in June but told the MGC that it still had “one outstanding issue” that prevented it from doing so.

Bally’s has been licensed in Massachusetts since 2023, but has yet to launch because of financial issues within the company and other challenges facing its online sportsbook. It paid the $1 million required for a Massachusetts sports betting license last year but never took a single wager. It re-upped with the state for another $1 million for 2024 in March.