Parlays Dominate Louisiana Sportsbook Betting

Parlays and same-game parlays have consistently produced profits for Louisiana bookmakers, and their $27.8 million in winners in April was no exception. Given that the $139 million handle required to achieve that percentage would be almost half of the state’s wagering for April, it seems likely that the win rate on parlay bets exceeded 20%. It was the sixth consecutive month that parlay income exceeded $20 million, with $147.2 million being collected by operators over that time.

As sportsbooks dominated bettors in the Pelican State, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board recorded $40.4 million in gross sports betting revenue for April. The combined hold on gross income for sportsbooks in the Bayou and parishes across the state was 14.3%. This marks the eleventh time in 30 months of commercial wagering that the win rate has above 14%, which is double the industry average of 7%. The hold also hit double digits for the 23rd time as Louisiana’s operators’ total gross income topped $750 million.

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With a handle of $283.1 million, April saw a 35% increase from the previous year and a 19.1% decrease from $350 million in March. Due to a 3.1 percentage point increase in April’s hold, revenue increased by 72.4% over the previous year. The $161.9 million in gross revenue for the first four months of 2024 represents a 41.1% increase over the same period in 2023. A total of $36.4 million in adjusted gross revenue was taxable by the state, bringing $5.4 million into the coffers. Operators withheld $3.9 million in bonuses and promotional credits, which is less than 1% higher than March’s deduction of $1.2 million and more than three times the amount recorded in April 2023. The $19.7 million in taxes collected so far this year is more than $7.3 million more than the same period last year.

Even though the state’s 18 retail venues lost a total of $48,700 in basketball wagering, and despite South Carolina and UConn being the clear favorites to win the NCAA Tournament, basketball wagering accounted for the largest portion of sport-specific revenue, coming in at $5.8 million. With a late charge to qualify for the Western Conference Play-In Tournament and the NBA postseason, the New Orleans Pelicans gave fans a roller coaster ride in April. However, they were defeated in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Baseball brought in about $2.5 million for operators, with soccer coming in third place with $667,300. The catch-all “other” category, which in Louisiana includes mixed martial arts, golf, tennis, auto racing, hockey, boxing, and auto racing, brought in $489,700 for the operators. 

Using the nine sports betting apps that are accessible in Louisiana, sportsbooks were able to claim $39 million out of $263.2 million in wagers, yielding a 14.8% hold for the month of April. With a win percentage of 6.7%, their retail rivals managed to win $1.3 million out of $19.8 million in handle.

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