Louisiana Sportsbooks Set Records in October

For the second consecutive October, bookmakers in Louisiana took in big money. The Pelican State sportsbooks once again hit record high sports betting numbers, as the Louisiana Gaming Control Board announced on Thursday all-time monthly records for sports wagering revenue and handle for October. With $43.3 million in gross revenue, the state’s nine mobile betting apps and eight brick-and-mortar sportsbooks barely beat September’s record earnings by approximately $200,000. For the first time in twenty-four months of Louisiana wagering, handle exceeded $300 million, coming in at $308.6 million. This comfortably surpassed the prior record of $282.3 million set in January.

The 14 percent hold on gross revenue was still twice the long-standing industry standard of 7 percent, even if it was down 1.4 percentage points from September. Thirteen of the twenty-four months of commercial wagering have seen sportsbooks in Louisiana post a win rate of 12 percent or more. Six of the 45 monthly revenue reports across the country in 2023 with holds of 12.6 percent or more are from the Pelican State.

Spending on promotions came to $876,000 in total—just the second time this year that it was less than $1 million. This implied that the $42.5 million in taxable adjusted gross revenue was likewise a record high. October saw a $5.3 million inflow into Louisiana’s tax coffers, surpassing the previous record set in September by $1,340.

For sport categories, the LGCB only offers revenue figures—not handle—but when it comes to parlay wagers, the public has been gorged by the state’s sportsbooks. The $27.4 million in winnings in October set a new monthly all-time record for the house, surpassing the $23.1 million in September by 18.8% and accounting for 63.3 percent of total income.

The operators’ parlay revenue of at least $20 million was generated for the sixth time in the previous 13 months, and the $162.3 million in income so far this year has already exceeded the $151.7 million amount for the entire year 2022.

In terms of football single-event wagering, bettors performed somewhat better. Although operator income of $7.6 million was down 16.5 percent from September’s over $9 million, $2.2 million in basketball winnings were made possible by the NBA season’s beginning. That was a 41.5% increase from October 2022.

Despite the fact that baseball revenue decreased by over $3 million in September to $3.7 million, it was still more than twice as high as it was in October of last year due to the fact that books were exempt from having to pay out winning Astros futures for the American League pennant this year. With the knowledge that it does not owe Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale large prizes following his $58.7 million payday for the Astros’ World Series success last year, which caused an overall statewide loss of $25.3 million, November looks to be a happy month for the house this time around.

It’s evident that the house has gained the upper hand over the public throughout the first ten months of 2023. Although handle has increased significantly, by 21.8 percent to $2.17 billion, gross income has increased at a rate that is almost twice as high, at 39.2 percent to $280.9 million.