WynnBet plans to close its online sportsbook in Massachusetts
Operator’s intention to pull the plug comes hard on the heels of Betr revealing the startup won’t renew its temporary license in the state
Wynn Resorts-owned WynnBet has asked the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) for permission to fold its online sports betting product in Massachusetts, although its retail sportsbook at Encore Boston Harbor will remain open.
The MGC has also been officially informed that micro-betting-focused startup Betr plans to not renew its temporary license after first announcing plans last week to exit the Bay State.
WynnBet and Betr departing the market would leave six mobile sportsbook options: FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, ESPN Bet, and Fanatics Sportsbook.
The uphill battle faced by WynnBet and Betr in Massachusetts is reflected in the figures released by the regulator which showed for the month of December both operators generated taxable revenue of $839,746 and $37,991, respectively,
Those amounts combined represented less than 1.5% of the more than $60m in revenue achieved across all eight online sportsbooks.
Nationally, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming estimates that WynnBet holds a 0.26% share of the market, while Betr’s slice of the pie is even smaller, at just 0.01%.
Last August, WynnBet exited eight states including New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, and Indiana as the operator partly blamed spiraling customer acquisition costs.
At the time, its operations in New York and Michigan were put “under review”, although WynnBet still offers its products in both states.
Wynn Resorts reported last November that its online arm, Wynn Interactive, racked up an operating loss of $268m for the first nine months of 2023, compared with an $189.5m operating loss for the corresponding period in 2022.
The gradual demise of WynnBet is all a far cry from when Wynn Interactive was valued at $3.2bn ahead of a 2021 reverse merger with blank cheque company Austerlitz Acquisition Corp., a deal that was eventually aborted.
Then, in early 2022, it was widely reported that Wynn was looking to offload Wynn Interactive for a heavily discounted price of $500m amid escalating costs and intense competition in the US online market.
Like WynnBet, Betr, which is co-founded by YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul, has struggled to lay a glove on its opponents since its launch last year, yet this hasn’t deterred the challenger brand from recently securing market access in three additional states.
At the same time as announcing its plans to throw in the towel in Massachusetts, management announced last week that Betr has gained routes to market in Colorado, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
As well as sports betting, Betr will debut its casino product in Pennsylvania. The company also plans to roll out “V1” of its yet-to-be-released full mobile product in time for the 2024 NFL season.