Mississippi sports betting handle drops slightly in January

Players in Mississippi wagered $66.5m on sports in the first month of 2022, down 0.9 per cent from January 2021.

US.- Mississippi’s sports betting handle reached $66.5m in January, a 0.9 decrease from $67.1m registered in January 2021, but up 17.1 per cent compared to the $56.8m recorded in December.

The monthly report released by the Mississippi Gaming Commission also showed a year-on-year drop in terms of revenue. While January 2022 sports betting revenue was $6.5m, in January 2021 revenue was $9.1m, a fall down of 28.6 per cent. 

However, sports betting revenue for the first month of the year was more than double the amount posted in the final month of 2021 when the state reported $3.2m.

Of the total wagered in January, $45.7m came from coastal casinos, whose revenue amounted to $3.1m. Football betting drew $17.5m in wagers at the casinos with basketball on a close second with $17.3m. Baseball wagering was just $2,953, while parlay betting hit $4.1m and other sports $6.9m.

Wagering at northern casinos reached $10.9m and revenue $1.6m. With $4.7m in bets, football was again the most popular sport to bet on. Central casinos drew the least bets, with $9.9m wagered during the month, but revenue was higher than at northern casinos, reaching $1.9m. Basketball led with $2.4m in bets, ahead of football on $1.9m. Parlay betting reached $5.5m.

Sportsbooks in Mississippi generated an estimated $783,000 in sports betting tax revenue in January.

See also: Mississippi sports betting handle declines in December