Louisiana takes $27.6m in handle in first month of sports betting

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board has posted its first sports betting revenue report for its eight retail locations.

US.- Louisiana’s eight casinos generated a sports betting handle of $27.6m in November, the first month of sports betting in the state. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board has posted its first sports betting revenue report showing that the retail sportsbook locations raked in more than $5.6m in revenue. Nearly $570,000 in taxes were paid.

The report does not go into location-by-location specifics for the handle or revenue, but four venues — Boomtown New Orleans, Harrah’s New Orleans, Horseshoe Bossier City, and L’Auberge Baton Rouge, were taking wagers for practically the entire month. The other four, Boomtown Bossier City, Golden Nugget Lake Charles, L’Auberge Lake Charles, and Margaritaville, conducted a little less than three weeks of wagering.

Parlay revenue totalled nearly $3.7m, 65 per cent of the total. Football revenue ranked second at nearly $1.6m. Basketball was third ($369,931), followed by “other” ($32,886) and soccer ($21,203). 

Twenty-five per cent of the state’s revenue from sports betting will go to fund early education.

Overall revenue at casinos in the Shreveport-Bossier market dropped by 5.4 per cent from October to November this year but was up 19 per cent compared to November of last year.

Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns has slated January 15 as a potential launch date for mobile wagering in the 55 state parishes (out of 64) that have authorised sports betting, but Maj. Chuck O’Neil of the Louisiana State Police has not confirmed the date.

See also: Louisiana casino revenue up 21.8% year-on-year in October