Louisiana online sportsbooks see significant revenue drop in April

Louisiana's online sportsbooks saw a significant revenue decrease in April as the volume of sporting action began to drop.
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Data from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board has revealed that online sportsbooks in the state saw a significant revenue decrease in April as the volume of sporting action began to drop.

The Pelican State’s online sportsbooks recorded a handle of $186m during the month, down on the previous month’s $205.7m.

However, online revenue fell to $3.27m in April, significantly below the record set in March of $28.4m as sportsbooks only achieved a win percentage of 1.8% during the month (March: 13.8%).

With a 15% tax rate on online sports betting revenue, Louisiana online sportsbooks generated $2.37m in taxes for the state during April (March: $3.19m).

The state’s retail sportsbooks witnessed a drop in handle during the month as well, but it only fell to $22.2m compared to the previous month’s $26.98m. Revenue grew to $2.33m (March $1.72m) thanks to an improved win percentage during the month of 10.5% (March: 6.4%). 

With a retail sports betting revenue tax rate of 10%, Louisiana’s retail sportsbooks yielded $202,726 to state coffers in April (March: $227,621).

Combining online and retail, the Pelican State’s sportsbooks in April generated $208.3m in handle (March: $232.7m), revenue came in at $5.61m (March: $30.1m), with $2.57m paid to the state in taxes.

In terms of revenue per sport, the state’s online sportsbooks had a significant basketball revenue loss of $12.46m (March: $12.8m gain) as the NCAA March Madness tournaments concluded and the NBA Playoffs got in full swing. 

Elsewhere online, baseball delivered $1.3m in revenue (March: $173,131), followed by soccer with $471,998 (March: $467,735), and football with a staggeringly low $14,802 (March: $111,678) as only futures NFL and college football bets were being placed. Parlay betting saw a revenue of $13.49m during the month (March: $13.57m).

Online sports betting launched in Louisiana on January 28. The state’s gaming control board notes that seven mobile sportsbooks are currently operational with casinos in the state – Caesars, Barstool, DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Bet Rivers, and WynnBet.

For retail sportsbooks, basketball generated the most revenue during April, jumping up to $571,543 (March: $133,540). Basketball was followed by baseball with $311,983 (March: $41,591), then soccer with $17,407 (March: $20,903), and football returning to a positive revenue of $5,206 (March: $300,093 loss).

Parlay betting revenues at Louisiana’s retail sportsbooks reached $1.29m during the month (March: $1.76m). The state has 15 retail sportsbook venues.