The legalization of sports betting was “slightly positive” but “largely a wash” for the Massachusetts economy in its first year, a researcher from the UMass Donahue Institute told gambling regulators Thursday as he also flagged signs that its growth is eating into the state’s casino tax revenue.
The primary economic benefit from sports betting in 2023 was the tax revenue it generated for state government — $90.8 million in the first year of legal wagering here. But other than that, Donahue Institute Research Manager Thomas Peake told the Gaming Commission on Thursday, the launch of the largely-mobile industry created “very, very, very few” new Massachusetts jobs (a net addition of 118 jobs from legal sports betting compared to a net addition of 15,431 jobs from the introduction of casinos) and comparatively scant in-state spending.
