It may not be a significant improvement, but January brought some good news for Pelican State operators and bettors. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board announced sportsbooks accepted $382.8 million in wagers last month, slightly below December’s $390.7 million and the second straight month of declining action. But it was still playoff football season and compared to the summer months, operators should still be happy.
Bettors should have enjoyed the new year's start, too. September, November, and January are Louisiana’s most generous months as sportsbooks try to entice people eager to bet. Sportsbooks totaled nearly $13 million in promotional deductions, more than the last eight months combined. That’s not entirely surprising, since Jan. 2024 brought in nearly $14 million in promos.
Giveaways didn’t stop books from making money. After paying out winners, sportsbooks generated $40.8 million in net receipts, a 10.8% hold. A hold this high is par for the course for the state’s mobile sportsbooks. January was the 13th time in 14 months when mobile operators reported a double-digit hold.
But because of the promotional options, the tax bill suffered. Despite a 1% higher hold compared to December, January only sent $5.9 million to the state's coffers, the lowest in five months.
Retail sportsbooks mixed results in 2025
Dec. 2024 was bleak for retail operators and January only better in context. Year-over-year handle fell 2.1%, better than the 11.5% decline the month earlier. Same with revenue, which dropped 20.6% year-over-year, but was again better than November's 110% drop.
Compare this to Louisiana's online sportsbooks, who improved their yearly handle by 11.7% and revenue by 7.5%. However, the good news for brick-and-mortar locations is they actually reported gross revenue. After losing money the previous month, they came away with $2.5 million in net proceeds this time.
Mobile parlays a big winner
January was another good month for mobile sportsbooks, who enjoyed a profit in each sports category. Parlays were again king as they contributed to the vast majority of operator winnings.
| Market | Mobile Revenue |
| Parlay | $29.5 million |
| Basketball | $3.3 million |
| Football | $3.6 million |
| Soccer | $350,000 |
| Baseball | $78,000 |
| Other | $5.3 million |
