Louisiana sports betting handle jumps 14% in July despite off-season lull
Latest data reveals 19% increase in online handle with mobile operator net proceeds reaching $15.7m
Louisiana total sports betting handle grew by 14% year on year (YOY) to $134.7m, according to the latest figures released by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB).
Despite the increase in handle, total net proceeds from sports betting fell by 13% over the same period, dropping from $20.9m in July 2022 to just $18.2m a year later.
Drilling down into the individual verticals, online sportsbooks racked up $122.5m in handle in July 2023, up 19% YOY on the $103.3m collected from bettors in July 2022.
Online operators generated $15.6m in net proceeds during July after the deduction of $685,802 in promotional expenditure, with the net proceeds figure down 18% from a year earlier and operating with a sportsbook hold of 12.8%.
At an individual level, parlays generated the largest amount of online sports betting net proceeds during July, accounting for $9.5m of the $15.6m total for the month.
Net proceeds derived from baseball betting ($2.7m) and other types of bets ($1.4m) were the next largest cash generators for Louisiana online operators in July.
In contrast, net proceeds derived from basketball, football, and soccer failed to break the million-dollar mark during July, largely due to an absence of events in these respective sports from the sporting calendar in the US.
In-person sports betting operators generated $12.2m in handle, down almost 20% from the $15.2m handle declared in July 2022.
Despite this slump, retail sportsbook net proceeds actually increased during July, rising by 15.5% on a YOY basis to $1.9m in the month. Retail sportsbooks operated with a hold of 15.5% during July.
As in the online sector, proceeds derived from parlay betting made up the highest amount of total in-person net proceeds during July, accounting for $1.2m of the $1.9m total.
Baseball and other sports net proceeds also mirrored the online sector at a retail level, accounting for $225,352 and $487,166, respectively, during July.
Pelican State officials collected $2.2m in sports betting taxes during the month.