After a good November for betting operators, things came back to Earth in Louisiana.
Sportsbooks across the U.S. are reporting a relatively weak Q4 and the Pelican State is ending the year with similar troubles.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board reported that operators in the state took in $390.7 million in bets from their mobile and retail markets combined. That is a 5.5% month-over-month decrease.
The handle did grow compared to December 2023, however that 3.6% increase is the smallest year-over-year jump since April 2023. Before adding December, fiscal year 24/25 was averaging 32% growth versus the prior year.
Retail sportsbooks hurting in December
Louisiana is like most states where wagering online is preferable to finding a casino. In December only 7.3% of bets were placed at a physical location. Certainly, the sportsbooks who have both mobile and retail operations are not complaining. Louisiana legal online sports betting sites are the money makers for the books.
Last month, physical books failed to make a profit. Of their $28.4 million in handle they actually lost $450,000, which is a hold percentage of -1.6%. Twelve months ago, operators reported $4.5 million in revenue, their highest of 2024.
The culprits for December were parlays. Parlay bets are usually the highest grossing type of wager for a sportsbook, beating out any individual sport. In November, parlays earned the books $2.9 million, but last month bettors won $439,000. Football was also a profitable sport for the public, with them taking $130,000 in winnings.
Mobile hold drops in rough December
With retail markets losing money, mobile operators picked up the slack. They reported $35 million in net proceeds, however, in context that was not a great showing.
December’s revenue is the lowest this football season. And, year-over-year that is a decline of nearly 32%. The hold percentage came in at 9.7%, which is lower than any other month in 2024.
Basketball bettors were the biggest losers in December, and they were the top sport for the books.
| Market | Mobile Revenue |
|---|---|
| Parlay | $22.2 million |
| Basketball | $4.9 million |
| Football | $3.5 million |
| Soccer | $440,000 |
| Baseball | $10,000 |
| Other | $3.8 million |
