The Louisiana Gaming Control Board has posted its first sports betting revenue report, with its eight retail locations generating more than $27.6 million in handle for the month of November.
The report does not go into location-by-location specifics for handle and 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.
Though no one knows who did the best, it is safe to say it was a good month for the operators. They reported close to $5.7 million in net revenue from those wagers, creating a healthy hold of 20.6%. Louisiana taxes those proceeds at 10%, which meant the state collected $568,571 for its initial month of activity. Twenty-five percent of the tax revenue collected goes toward early education funding.
Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns has targeted Jan. 15 as a potential launch date for mobile wagering in the 55 state parishes (out of 64) that have authorized sports betting, but Maj. Chuck O’Neil of the Louisiana State Police has not firmed up the date. The state police is the body that conducts the license approval process for operators, which was slowed during the fall due to Hurricane Ida.
Parlays made up majority of revenue
Louisiana's initial sports betting numbers show big return – WBRZ https://t.co/JPDoYVFMc9
— StateStatus LA (@StateStatus_LA) December 21, 2021
The LGCB does provide a revenue breakdown by category, and given the rise of single-game parlay wagering and the general popularity of that type of bet, it is not surprising that it generated the bulk of the revenue. Parlay revenue among operators totaled nearly $3.7 million — just shy of 65% of the total revenue generated for the month.
The rampant popularity of the New Orleans Saints, who at 7-7 are in the thick of the NFC wild card chase, helped contribute to football revenue ranking second for operators at nearly $1.6 million. Of the six categories listed by the LGCB, basketball was third ($369,931), followed by the catch-all “other” ($32,886) and soccer ($21,203). Bettors came out ahead in baseball wagering, eking out a profit of $3,586 more than they wagered.
