After a November where bettors cut into the sportsbooks’ revenue in Louisiana, December was not only a return to normal but a swing in the opposite direction as the operators made a ton of money.
Louisiana’s Gaming Control Board reported that their mobile and retail sportsbooks took in $377 million in bets in December, a 5.7% increase from November’s handle and a new record in the Pelican State.
On top of that, Louisiana’s operators kept a huge amount of the tickets they wrote, boosting revenue. In November, the brick-and-mortar locations had a hold of 4% while the online books kept just 5.6%. But last month was completely different with the retail operators holding 14.2% and the mobile operators a whopping 14.9%.
As a whole, the state’s licensed operators netted $55.7 million. For comparison, October and November led to a combined $61.8 million. Taxwise, the state made $7.5 million, more than double November’s $3.2 million.
Another boost in revenue came from the reduction of bonuses. When ESPN Bet launched in November, promotional deductions increased 10 fold to $9.8 million. Now, one month later, those promotional offers are gone, pulled just as abruptly as they came in. In December, there was just $690,000 in promos, the lowest since December 2022.
Parlays bring huge win for operators
Parlays are usually a cash cow for the sportsbooks and luckily that was the case last month. In November, parlay winnings dropped significantly, as the mobile books saw just $12.5 million in profit, while the retail operators reported $1.1 million. Last month was a major rebound as the online sportsbooks hit $40.2 million and the retail locations $2.9 million.
Football was the top sport for the operators. After the retail books netted just $203,000 in November, they turned things around with $1.4 million in profit on the sport.
