Of all the states that began serious discussion about legalizing sports betting in 2018 after getting the green light from the U.S. Supreme Court, none took as long as Massachusetts did to get the new form of gambling to the finish line.

Lawmakers spent years debating the finer points of sportsbook potential rules and regulations, and only after a number of compromises were made was a bill finally signed into law.

Massachusetts Sports Betting Overview

Officially launched since 2023, Massachusetts boasts 10 books, the majority of which are mobile sportsbooks.

Best Online Sportsbooks in Massachusetts

Best Betting Promos from Online Sportsbooks in MA

Although sportsbooks often run the same promotions to new bettors, sometimes the rules get switched up. In most states, for instance, FanDuel usually offers a Bet $5 and Get $300 in bonus bets. However, in Massachusetts, a FanDuel signup and $5 winning bet in this state only nets you $150 in free bets.

ESPN Bet and Bally Bet have simpler offers – signup and bet $10. Win or lose, you get $100 in free bets from the former and $50 in free bets from the latter.

Don’t miss out on these premier betting bonuses

Online & Retail Betting Sites in Massachusetts

There are currently seven online sportsbooks and three retail sportsbooks in Massachusetts.

Online Sportsbooks and Official Launch Dates

1. FanDuel – March 10, 2023
2. DraftKings – March 10, 2023
3. BetMGM – March 10, 2023
4. Caesars – March 10, 2023
5. Fanatics – May 16, 2023
6. ESPN Bet – Nov. 14, 2023
7. Bally Bet – July 2, 2024

Retail Sportsbooks and Official Launch Dates

1. Encore Boston Harbor Casino – Jan. 31, 2023
2. MGM Springfield Casino – Jan. 31, 2023
3. Plainridge Park Casino (Plainville) – Jan. 31, 2023

Legal Bets vs Illegal Bets in the Bay State

For the most part, Massachusetts offers a wide range of sports betting. An unusual rule is that residents can’t bet on in-state university sporting events, with the caveat that multi-team events like the NCAA March Madness basketball tournaments are an exception. There also are no individual college athlete prop bets allowed in the state.

Massachusetts also does not allow wagers on Olympic sports “in which the final outcome of the event is primarily based on the evaluation or assessment of a judge or panel of judges.” But curiously, the state does allow wagering on subjective results like voting in determining winners of The Academy Awards. Unlike many states, Massachusetts permits bets on major sports’ Most Valuable Player Awards as well as the popular NBA and NFL drafts.

After much debate, state regulators rejected allowing wagers on cornhole, jai alai, eSports, and any events in Russia or Ukraine.

Official Sports Teams – Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots and More

There’s a colorful selection of in-state professional and college-level sports teams.

The NBA’s Boston Celtics, the NHL’s Boston Bruins, MLB’s Boston Red Sox, and the NFL’s New England Patriots (who play in Foxboro, MA) all have lengthy histories in the state.

On the collegiate side, the University of Massachusetts and Boston College are the lone Division I football programs. They are joined in D-1 basketball by Boston University, Harvard, Holy Cross, Merrimack, Northeastern, Stonehill, and Massachusetts-Lowell.

Massachusetts vs Neighboring States – Comparing Sports Betting Handle

New York is the top sports betting state in the U.S., with $74.9 billion having been wagered there entering the lucrative fall 2025 college and professional football seasons. Connecticut, at $7.3 billion, has taken in less than half of the $16.9 billion Massachusetts total. New Hampshire has accepted $4 billion in wagers in this span, and Rhode Island is at $2.7 billion. Tiny Vermont has had only $342 million in bets taken through August 2025.

While FanDuel enjoys a national edge on longtime daily fantasy sports archrival DraftKings, that is not the case in Massachusetts. It was not unusual for Boston-based DraftKings to enjoy a 51% share of the sportsbook revenue in September 2025, while FanDuel settled for a mere 24% share that month. Fanatics, with a 10% share, outdid legacy casino operators BetMGM (6%) and Caesars (3%) as well as ESPN Bet (also 3%).

How Sports Betting in Massachusetts Got Legalized

The state managed to launch retail sports betting right before the 2023 Super Bowl, and mobile sports betting right before the start of March Madness.

2018-2020 Early Bills Fail

• June 3, 2018 – A House member announced a goal – just three weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for any state to offer sports betting – of researching the issue that year and possibly introducing a bill in 2019.
• Jan. 22, 2019 – A bill indeed was introduced in the House to authorize mobile sports betting, online casino gaming, and daily fantasy sports. But it never got off the committee.
• March 12, 2020 – A similar bill was introduced in the House – and it met the same fate.

2022 The Tides Finally Turn

• Aug. 1, 2022 – At 5 a.m. – after an overnight session – a deal was struck in both the House and Senate to legalize sports betting (but not online casino gaming).
• Aug. 10, 2022 – Gov. Charlie Baker signs the Massachusetts Sports Wagering Act into law.

2023 Retail and Mobile Books Launch

• Jan. 31, 2023 – The state’s three casinos each opened their sportsbooks to patrons simultaneously.
• March 10, 2023 – Four mobile sportsbooks launched on this day.

2025 Tax Debates

• Jan. 21, 2025 – A bill is introduced in the Senate that would boost the state sports betting tax rate to 51% – matching the national record rate of neighboring states New York and New Hampshire.

Massachusetts Sports Betting Launched Quickly and Efficiently

The extensive research and preparation by Massachusetts lawmakers and regulators led to smooth rollouts of sports betting both on the retail and mobile sides. While two sportsbooks withdrew after only one year – likely because of DraftKings’ overwhelming dominance of the market – the launch overall proved to be quite efficient.

MA Sports Betting Handle and Revenue

Massachusetts, which is the 16th most-populated U.S. state, placed 13th in sports betting handle entering the fall 2025 football seasons, and 11th among the states with full-scale sports betting. The state sportsbooks’ “hold” of 9.7% of the amount wagered is slightly above the national average.

Official Team and Sportsbook Partnerships

There are some official partnerships currently in place between major professional sports teams and sportsbooks:

• Boston Celtics x DraftKings
• Boston Bruins x FanDuel
• Boston Red Sox x BetMGM
• New England Patriots x DraftKings

There’s also one partnership between a casino and a sportsbook:

• Plainridge Park Casino x ESPN Bet

Strict Licensing & Oversight by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission regulates the state’s casino, horse racing, and sports wagering industries with stated goals to “maximize consumer protections, minimize negative impacts, and promote responsible gaming through regulation, research, and informed policy making.”

The commission has been quite proactive in its oversight of the state’s sportsbooks, and has given out record fines up to $450,000 in 2025. The MGC is not a shy regulatory body, and will follow up on non-compliance violations when relevant.

Responsible Gambling Resources in MA

There are resources available for any Massachusettsans looking for helpful tools to gamble responsibly.

Troubled gamblers can call the 24-hour Safer Gaming Education Line at 1-800-426-1234.

For those looking for more in-depth measures, the Voluntary Self-Exclusion Program (VSE) is a statewide program that allows you to exclude yourself from sports wagering for a predetermined amount of time.

To schedule an appointment to enroll in the Massachusetts Voluntary Self-Exclusion Program, you can contact the commission at 617-533-9737 or by emailing [email protected]. At an appointment, the patron will connect with a professional who has been trained to handle requests for voluntary self-exclusion. The commission notes that “they understand the difficult decision which you are making, and will offer support to help you make a knowledgeable choice.”

Why Wager on Sports Massachusetts?

The state’s betting regulations are fairly standard, although for the most part a bettor can’t place a wager on an in-state college event. That said, here are a couple things that may persuade residents from placing a bet on the next game. However, the reasons not to bet weigh heavier, depending on what sports you prefer.

Winning Reasons to Place a Sports Bet

1. No city is more entitled to be called “Titletown USA” more than Boston (especially if one includes the Patriots in nearby Foxboro). All four teams in the major traditional sports have won at least six championships (39 total). In this century, the 13 championships have come from the Red Sox (2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018), the Patriots (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, and 2018), the Celtics (2008 and 2024), and the Bruins (2011). All four franchises also have been in existence for at least 65 years, so the fanaticism has been handed down for many generations.
2. The authorization of a legal sports betting option for March Madness men’s basketball ensures that if any of the state’s universities have a great season, fans can join in the fun.

Reasons to Just Sit Back and Watch

1. That March Madness option may be just a pipe dream. No team from the state has reached the field of 68 since Northeastern did it in 2019, and no Massachusetts team has won a game in the men’s tournament since Harvard defeated Cincinnati in 2014.
2. NHL fans have seen the Bruins hit a mostly sour note in the past dozen years, never advancing past the second round of the playoffs with the exception of a Stanley Cup Finals loss in 2019.
3. Neither Boston College nor UMass are serious players on the national college football stage, either.
4. Boston is a hotbed of universities, so many young adult college students in town no doubt would like to wager on their schools – or failing that, perhaps place individual prop bets on college athletes. But if those are their preferences, they would need to head over to the illegal offshore marketplace with the state – thus resulting in no tax revenue and the bettor receiving no consumer protection.

Final Impressions on Sports Betting in Massachusetts

New Jersey regulators have for decades been considered the gold standard in the gambling industry, but their Massachusetts brethren have turned a lot of heads nationally by aggressively holding sportsbook operators’ feet to the fire on any action that does not strictly follow state rules. Few if any other regulators are so stringent.

The Massachusetts mobile sportsbook count of seven is a little below industry standards, and the threat of much higher taxes being imposed in the near future may well be enough to cause potential newcomers to focus on other states that seem a bit friendlier to deal with.

That means that most or all of the eight remaining mobile sportsbooks licenses in the state may never be put into use.

Discover these top-rated sportsbooks

FAQ: Massachusetts Sports Betting