The Louisiana Gaming Control Board announced that statewide operators took in $381.2 million in bets last month.
While that is the third straight month of lower action, we have seen other states with more significant declines in handle over the same period, so in the grand scheme of things this is a win for Louisiana's legal online sports betting operators.
As sports betting expanded across the U.S., you can now see how events shape the monthly numbers.
For other states, the Super Bowl leads to a drop in both revenue and handle since there are fewer football games.
But states whose teams win the Super Bowl report bleak revenue numbers, while the losing side brings a boom to the state’s coffers.
Now, we know that hosting the Super Bowl brings significant action.
For example, from January to February Tennessee’s handle fell 23%, Maine’s action dropped 18.5%, and Iowa’s handle by 25%. Louisiana in comparison saw just 0.4%. A key factor for the boost was the fact that Super Bowl 59 was in the Pelican State and if you are traveling to see the Big Game, it’s a fair conclusion that you may also try to put down some money.
However, hosting the Super Bowl is usually not enough to exceed January’s handle, which has more playoff games. Nevada was the previous Super Bowl location and from January 2024 to February 2024, there was $10 million less in wagers, but in the previous two years the decline was roughly $250 million.
With the increase in traffic to New Orleans that did not translate to a boost in retail action.
The handle in the state’s brick and mortar locations fell again to $25.5 million, the fourth straight month of depressed handle. With that said, after two months of paying out more than they took in, the retail books finally won off straight football wagers.
Basketball bounce
The online sportsbooks, on the other hand, appeared to have taken a lot of bets on the Philadelphia Eagles.
Since July 2023, the mobile operators lost money on straight football bets twice, both for the Super Bowl. However, bettors have been busy on basketball wagers and their losses were large. The mobile books netted over $9 million in basketball bets, which is more than any month over the past two years.
That allowed for February’s revenue to actually increase month-over-month from $40.8 million to $47.5 million. This was thanks to both the retail and online books reporting double-digit holds (10% and 12% respectively).
Looking back to February 2024, everyone is winning, except for bettors. Mobile operators grew their handle by 40% and their revenue by 75%. The retail market saw their handle increase by 17% and their revenue by 226%.
The breakdown
| Market | Mobile Revenue |
|---|---|
| Parlay | $29.9 million |
| Basketball | $9.3 million |
| Soccer | $752,000 |
| Baseball | $119,000 |
| Football | -$1.2 million |
| Other | $7.9 million |
