SEO snapshot: Critical mass in the Commonwealth

In the first month of launch, the six key bookies in Massachusetts (MA) reported $569m in total handle for sports and $47m in taxable gaming revenue — but how large is the SEO opportunity?

The early runners are pursuing fast growth in the shape of DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Barstool Sportsbook, WynnBET, and Caesars — all with comparatively deep pockets, all battle-hardened teams, and all with a sharp focus on player value. Of course, over time the market will expand and the size of the market will tempt smaller and more agile operators and affiliates that want to earn their own slice of the prize.

What terms are Bay Staters currently searching for?

As in other ‘new’ states, the public interest in the legal status of gambling is very obvious, indicating that potential bettors are mindful they need to understand the local situation. As a result, they will uncover legal operators and make further comparisons. For the operators that have gone through all the hurdles to go live as legal entities, it would make logical sense to capitalize on this interest as much as possible — but are they?

There are continued gaps where affiliates are quick to respond with informational content whereas operators are more focused on odds and offers than long-form content that benefits new bettors. What is interesting is that while search terms with the word ‘Massachusetts’ included are still the most popular, they have seen a small decline over the past 12 months. At the same time, more generic, location-agnostic terms such as ‘betting’ and ‘sports betting’ have witnessed trends in the opposite direction.

This may speak to the adolescent rather than embryonic state of gambling in MA following its legalization. It also typifies Google’s personalization of search, meaning players are more likely to be served with results featuring local operators and affiliates than those doing business out of state.

Massachusetts sports fandom meets gambling SEO

According to a survey conducted by the Public Policy Polling in 2019, approximately 75% of Massachusetts residents identify themselves as sports fans — a level of loyalty also reflected in ticket sales, with an average attendance rate of over 95% for home games across major sports franchises (ESPN, 2022).  

Massachusetts sports fans are not just spectators; they actively participate in the success of their teams. Local sports talk radio stations have a significant listenership, with over 60% regularly listening to discursive sports content, according to Edison Research.

Reasons to be cheerful      

Massachusetts may become a priority focus for the particular strength of sports fandom, as well as the fact that the state has the third-highest disposable income for working-age men, according to the US Census Bureau, trailing behind California and New York.

A study conducted by the MRI-Simmons National Consumer Survey found that 40% of adults in the Boston area identified as fans of the New England Patriots while the Bruins have the highest average home attendance in the league, with 17,850 spectators per game. More than this, over eight million betting accounts have been created since legalization — higher than the state’s population. There’s a major opportunity to capture the attention of highly passionate potential bettors and that has to be reflected in SEO strategy.

A thin or insubstantial approach to SEO-focused sports content won’t impress energetic fans, but for those who get it right, there is a serious amount of passion that can be converted into participation through betting.

Massachusetts-focused betting content strategies

One approach being taken by affiliates  is creating content hubs around the mechanics of betting and long-form how-to guides, and editorial content grounded in statistics/opinion/personality. Odds content won’t cut it as the bettors within the state become savvier and learn that beyond major brands, other operators may suit their tastes better.

At ICS-digital, we anticipate there will be a shift in focus from betting sites that audiences feel most ‘safe’ with, largely due to brand familiarity and above-the-line advertising, to more innovative and customer-friendly sites that better match their passion. For current high-performing affiliates, looking at shared rankings can give some hints about informational themes for content and SEO planning.

Once again, it’s notable just how strong some of these affiliates are for terms that you might expect operators with much greater resources to have all wrapped up — but the battleground will shift as bettors become more savvy about the legal market.

Massachusetts-facing operators and affiliates compared     

The presence of mainstream news sites is very notable, as it is in other regulated states, and speaks once again to the desire for trustworthy sources about getting started as a bettor.

For SEO gains, both operators and affiliates should consider how backlinks from these news and editorial outlets can support their growth given the increasing topical relevance, raw authority, and the propensity of these sites themselves to rank for key terms in Massachusetts. In the race to get sites/apps live, operators in particular can neglect the importance of backlinks.

Affiliates are typically wiser to this aspect of SEO (and this is reflected when looking at the backlink profiles of top performers) and this type of gap is essential to understand for brands looking to build out a competitive SEO strategy.

It’s a common story now with big bang launches and rich potential to target some of the most engaged sports fans in the nation — sports fans with income to spend on their passion and a track record of turning up to support their teams come rain or shine. However, once again it feels like depth of content may be a weakness of operators unless strategies substantially change and SEO-thinking becomes an evident, leading priority.

Brand traffic, paid media, ATL activity, and affiliate traffic will of course produce plenty of bettors and product is a factor that many operators openly discuss prioritizing.

However, as the market matures and the pool of ‘new’ bettors gets smaller, we can expect to see more intense competition between operators, affiliates, and basically anyone else in the landscape that is seeking rankings based on sport and igaming content.