The process to bring legal sports betting to the state of Louisiana took longer than expected. However, after taking a closer look at March’s betting handle and posted revenue, it was obviously worth the wait.
The first legal retail sportsbooks in land-based Louisiana casinos opened for business last fall. Legal online sports betting did not go live until late January of 2022. Right from the start, the gaming numbers in both segments of the legal sports betting industry were strong.
With the industry planning to expand throughout 2022, Louisiana is in position to be the strongest legal sports betting market in the South.
Louisiana’s March Sports Betting Handle
With the month of April drawing to a close, the recap of March’s sports betting handle was filled with positive results across the board. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board is the governing regulatory body in the state. The Louisiana State police handle all the enforcement issues.
According to a March report by the Louisiana State Police, the total sports betting handle was $232.7 Million. Of that total, the volume of legal sports bets placed online reached $205.7 million. That reflects a healthy 88.4 % ratio between online and retail sportsbooks.
The overall sports betting handle in March did not set a new state record for Louisiana. During the first full month in operation, the retail and mobile books took in a combined $238.4 million in legal sports betting volume during the month of February.
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Louisiana’s March Sports Betting Revenue
What makes the betting volume results in Louisiana stand out from the crowd is the $30.1 million in revenue.
This figure translates to an impressive 12.9% hold on the $232.7 million handle. Breaking down the numbers for online sports betting points to an even more profitable run for mobile sportsbook operators.
Online books posted a 13.8% hold rate on their $28.4 million in revenue. Of that total, the state of Louisiana walked away with $3.18 million in tax on that revenue.
Retail sportsbooks at in-state casinos posted a total betting handle of $26.9 million with a much lower hold rate of 6.4%. The total revenue on that handle was $1.7 million. The state cleared more than $227,600 in tax revenue from the retail betting sector.
Betting on Basketball in March
Louisiana sportsbooks took full advantage of March Madness and college basketball to set a new monthly record for revenue. Basketball bets accounted for $12.8 million of mobile sportsbook revenue for the month. The retail revenue from basketball reached $133,540.
Louisiana operators got the best of the in-state betting public throughout the recent NCAA Tournament for men’s college basketball.
As far as Louisiana sports betting markets in the month of March, parlay wagers generated $13.5 million in revenue for online sportsbooks. That number dropped to $1.7 million at retail books.
The state’s online books posted revenue of $467,735 for wagers placed on soccer. Ahead of the start of the 2022 MLB regular season in early April, the total revenue on baseball betting volume in Louisiana reached $41,591 in March.
