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A Bloomberg analysis of 2,441 first-time Massachusetts sportsbook customers found that its heavy-bettor group lost an average of $12,237 after one year. The investigation, published Nov. 9 by Aaron Gordon and Polly Mosendz, followed customers who first transacted with a sports betting platform within a week after legalization.
Massachusetts betting habits diverged over time
About 60% of the Massachusetts cohort went on to deposit once a month or less, while roughly 15% made more than one deposit a week, according to Bloomberg. Eventually, 149 people — about 6% of the group — placed bets at least once a day on average.
Frequent deposits emerged early. After the first week, 137 customers had already deposited at least seven times.
The Massachusetts findings sit within a broader Bloomberg Businessweek analysis of almost 140,000 bettors across 29 states in 2024 and 2025. That analysis estimated that the least active two-thirds of licensed sportsbook customers generated just 2.7% of revenue.
Bloomberg estimated that digital sportsbooks could lose about 60% of their revenue without customers who deposit monthly.
Sportsbooks dispute the link to gambling harm
The Sports Betting Alliance challenged the connection between frequent deposits and problem gambling.
“Like many consumer-facing industries, engaged customers can account for an important share of activity,” alliance president Joe Maloney told Bloomberg. “That fact alone does not tell us how the average customer uses these platforms.”
DraftKings told Bloomberg that sports betting is entertainment, rather than an investment or source of income, and that many customers use it casually.
FanDuel pointed to deposit limits, timeouts and self-exclusion tools. It also disputed Bloomberg’s interpretation of heavy bettors’ losses, saying anonymized data did not reflect sportsbook economics.
Responsible-gambling safeguards under scrutiny
FanDuel said parent company Flutter Entertainment had invested $158 million in responsible-gaming technology. It also reported manually reviewing 58,000 accounts and proactively removing 5,900 North American users for responsible-gaming reasons.
Bloomberg cited the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s recommendation that bettors limit gambling activity to four days per month.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the Massachusetts Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-327-5050 to speak with a trained specialist.
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Source: As reported by Bloomberg.
