There are a lot of reasons bettors in the Pelican State enjoyed November’s betting action. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels was impressing, and bettors increased their winnings and saw more promo offers.
Louisiana’s Gaming Control Board announced that their sportsbooks (both retail and mobile) accepted $356.4 million in wagers last month, a 15.4% monthly jump. While that is good news for the operators, Louisiana bettors improved their win percentage so much that the statewide revenue plummeted.
After earning $42.4 million in revenue for October, those same sportsbooks made just $19.4 million. The hold percentage for the online books dropped from 14.2% to 5.6%. The retail books saw a similar decline, from 10.1% to 4.0%.
Compared to 2022, November’s revenue saw a 98.4% drop for the online operators, and a 57.8% decline in the brick-and-mortar locations. And instead of the $5.3 million the state made in taxes for October, Louisiana’s coffers brought in just $3.2 million.
There was more good news for bettors in the Pelican State. With the launch of ESPN Bet, promotional deductions increased tenfold, from $875,000 to $9.8 million. The retail books also reported just under $14,000 in promos (July to October saw a combined $0 in promos).
See also: 10 Predictions, Bold and Otherwise, About Sports Betting in 2024
Basketball won big for sportsbooks as parlays miss
The New Orleans Pelicans had an average start to the NBA season and, despite all the winning bets the operators paid out, the NBA gave Louisiana sports betting operators some good news.
While football bets technically edged out basketball bets in profit for the house ($4.6 million versus $4.4 million), the month-over-month numbers paint a different picture. Basketball winnings for the operators reached just $2.1 million in October, so November represents a nearly 110% jump. Football, on the other hand, fell from $7.5 million from the previous month, a 38.6% decline.
But parlays are always a popular wager for bettors and a big winner for the sportsbooks, but in November the operators saw those winnings drop as well. The online and the retail books each saw their parlay profits cut in half last month. Online sportsbooks fell from $24.9 million to $12.5 million, while the retail side declined from $2.4 million to $1.1 million.
