Louisiana is another state that couldn’t escape from the summer slowdown as the operators in the state registered a handle of just $171.1 million in May. This notes a significant decline of 17.8 percent from April’s $208.2 million.
How Did the Sportsbooks in Louisiana Do in May?
Despite the handle dropping a significant amount, the sportsbook operators posted a combined hold of 15 percent on all wagers that were placed in the month, as the Louisiana police stated. Thanks to the high win rate, which is more than double the industry average, bookmakers combined to bring in $25.7 million in adjusted gross revenue.
The monthly handle noted the smallest total for the Pelican State since the full operation began. Operators took heavy losses in regards to the March Madness Tournament as it took $6.1 million in gross revenue.
Retail sports betting brought down the win rate for the month; however, in-person sportsbooks still had a strong hold rate of 9.5 percent, which is still 2.5 percent higher than the national average. Previously, New Jersey held the record at 13 percent, with nearly $184 million in bets placed.
Bookmakers in the Pelican State are allowed to use promotional credits and deductions to pay fewer taxes, but the amount was light for the month as there weren’t any big events on the calendar. However, because of the promotion, the tax rate was based on $25.3 million as the amount came out to $365,000.
Through the first six months of the year, sportsbooks were able to collect $11.5 million in taxes. From October 2021, the bookmakers collected $12.5 million because only retail sportsbooks were available at the time. The Pelican State became the 17th state to reach the $1 billion handle mark.
Parlays Were Able to Bring Up the Revenue Numbers
Like some states in the industry, the Louisiana state police doesn’t break down the handle of each sports category, but it does release the revenue total to the public. Once again, parlays were the main source of revenue as the adjusted gross revenue hit a total of $12.4 million. With college basketball no longer
available, the house was able to edge the bettors by more than $5.1 million for May in the NBA category.
May was also a better month for the MLB as the house brought in $5.9 million in revenue. The house barely won on soccer as the month-over-month went from $489,405 to $151,530. The “other” sports category brought in $1.3 million for the month.
Out of all the 13 states that posted their numbers in May, Louisiana had the highest win rate as only five others were able to surpass the double-digit mark. Still, operators across the country had strong hold rates so far as the lowest total was 7.9 percent which belongs to Connecticut.
Louisiana Sports Betting Outlook Before Football Season
Louisiana’s sports betting may continue to drop until the end of the month of August, but it is still the legal biggest market in the area that stretches from Texas to Florida. The state will wait for football
season as the LSU Tigers, and the New Orleans Saints will drive up the average betting volume once again.
Maryland could also learn or follow what Louisiana is doing as the mobile push in the Old Line State has been stagnant despite the relentless push for Gov. Larry Hogan. Louisiana has been able to attract more bettors since the mobile sports market came to fruition.
