After a strong start to 2023, Louisiana saw a pullback across its legal sports betting numbers.
The retail and online handle in Louisiana fell to $197.6 million in February, marking almost a $90 million drop versus the $282.2 in bets made in January.
The Gaming Enforcement Division of the Louisiana State Police also announced that the state’s online sports betting sites revenue fell 20%, to $17.7 million. The retail side also took a hit in February with just $1.48 million in profit — a 75% decline month-over-month.
Meanwhile, the hold percentage for online sports betting in Louisiana rose from 9% to 10.1% while the brick-and-mortar operators saw their 16.3% in January drop to 6.8% last month.
Super Bowl aftermath
Bettors from both types of books cashed in for the Super Bowl, as football was the only sport where the operators lost money. The online shops ultimately lost $1.1 million while the retail books paid $264,493.
On top of that, the online market still saw a sizable amount of promotions. February’s $4 million was less than January’s $7.7 million, but was larger than March 2022 – December 2022 combined.
Sportsbooks’ winners
Basketball replaced football as the top-earning sport for operators in the Pelican State, although there was a noticeable difference in revenue between online and retail markets.
Online sportsbooks saw their baseball profits more than triple (from $25,562 to $86,986), while the retail side witnessed soccer losing bets nearly quadruple — earning the books $41,038 versus $11,622 in January.
Parlay profits saw a huge drop off on the retail side, falling 78% to $356,881. That marks the lowest amount since Louisiana launched sports betting back in 2021.
