Louisiana’s sports betting handle for May was $171.1 million, which is a drop from its April handle. In April, the state’s handle came to $208.2 million, so Louisiana saw almost an 18% month to month. The state has been on the sports betting decline since February, when the first month of sports betting in Louisiana history brought in $238.4 million in bets.
Most states are experiencing similar issues. Many blame this on the ever-growing inflation rate throughout the country, as well as high gas prices. It can also be attributed to the end of the NBA season, and the lull of major sporting events in general. Regardless, this is the lowest handle Louisiana has ever seen.
Source of the Handle
According to the state police, Louisiana saw a 15% win rate. Its mobile handle also decreased, as April had a $186 million online betting handle, while May had only a $142.6 million online betting handle. Revenues, however, saw major growth throughout the state. In April, state revenue totaled at $5.6 million, while May saw $25.2 million in revenue.
In only online sports betting revenue, operators made $22.6 million in net revenue. There are seven online sports books in the state, but the Louisiana Gaming Control Board is not required to report separate numbers for each of the sports books. The online operators in the state are FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Barstool, WynnBet, BetRivers, and Caesars Sportsbook.
In-person casinos brought in a good amount of money, although their revenues dropped from April as well. The state’s 12 riverboat casinos, which is surprisingly a more popular venue for casinos than actual buildings are, dropped around $4 million from April with an AGR of 157 million. The only land casino had an AGR of $20.8 million, while April did $27 million.
The Deal with State Taxes
According to Senate Bill 290, which was signed by Governor John Bel Edwards on June 3 and will go into action on July 1, every sports betting license throughout the entire state will allow for $5 million in free credit each year. All of the online operators are already close to hitting that, which means more taxes for these operators if they go over.
Lucky for the state, it was able to bring in more tax money, even with a smaller handle. $2.7 million was brought in through taxes in May, which brings the state’s tax total since sports betting was launched in October to $12.6 million.
Popular Sports Betting Categories
A few sports brought in a good amount of money in sports betting throughout May. Baseball sat at the top with $5.9 million in revenue. Right under it was basketball, thanks to the NBA final, which brought in $5.1 million. As always, parlays brought in the most revenue total, with sportsbook winnings totaling to $12.4 million.
Soccer dropped a great amount month to month, with only $151.5k in May, while April saw $489.4k.
