Louisiana Posts Impressive Sports Betting Numbers
The Louisiana State Police have announced sports betting numbers for the month of October, and it was a record month for the state. The total sports betting handle came in at $255 million, which set a record to end the first full year of wagering.
Sportsbooks in the state of Louisiana had an extra weekend of football betting in October, and it helped them get past the previous record that was set in February. October represented a jump of nearly 23% from the sports betting handle total that was reported in September.
Now that the first full year of sports betting in Louisiana is wrapped up, it’s clear to see that this is a market that is flourishing. The total sports betting handle for the first 12 months was $1.8 million, trailing only Arizona among the states that launched in 2021.
Louisiana still doesn’t have legal sports betting throughout the state as there were a couple of parishes that voted against the industry. Retail betting is available in parts of Louisiana as well, but mobile sports betting is clearly the most popular choice.
More growth is expected in 2023 and beyond as there are still some sports betting licenses that are up for grabs. Louisiana continues to get a boost from Texas as the Lone Star State has not yet legalized the industry.
Bettors Struggling to Win
There has been one trend that is sticking out in the state of Louisiana, and that is the fact that bettors are struggling to make any money. The hold rate in Louisiana in October was over 12%, but that was actually a significant drop from where it was in September.
Total sports betting revenue for the month was over $30 million, and that was the second straight time that Louisiana has posted a total that high. Sportsbooks are no longer allowed to deduct as many promotional dollars, and that has helped the state bring in more tax revenue.
The national average for hold rate is still right around seven percent, and Louisiana sportsbooks continue to perform much better than the average.
Interesting Breakdown of Betting
The Louisiana State Police does not provide a complete breakdown of all of the sports betting activity for the month. There are some categories that are included in the report, and it’s parlay betting that has set the tone for the state.
Bettors continue to try to create winning parlays, but the total revenue for that type of betting was over $21 million. Since legal sports betting began in Louisiana, parlay betting has accounted for over 50% of the entire revenue.
As expected, football was the most popular sport to wager on in the first 12 months, but bettors were able to find success in October. Surprisingly it was baseball that was actually the second most popular sport to wager on in the state.
