The NFL season is in full swing, and Louisiana sports betting regulators are confident that the increased interest in football will result in more revenue for the state.
So far, Louisiana sportsbooks handled over $2.8 million in football wagers alone last month, and officials expect that number to grow as the season progresses. The released numbers are just for August when NFL is just on pre-season and there are only a few college football games.
This is great news for the state, as they look to generate more revenue from legalized sports betting.
Louisiana Sports Betting
Since mobile sports betting goes live at the end of January, it becomes a different story for Louisiana as these sportsbooks accumulate nearly a hundred million dollars in revenue while the state already levied $15.5 million in tax revenue.
On the other hand, brick-and-mortar sportsbooks had a total of $26.7 million since November 2021 and paid $2.7 million in tax revenue.
Louisiana sports betting regulators are feeling confident that the NFL season will result in more revenue for the state. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board believes that the popularity of professional football will lead to an increase in bets placed on sports games.
During the meeting where the August reports are being reviewed, Head of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, Ronnie Johns, stated that the fact that the state will be covering its first full NFL season means a lot as it is expected to “drive some numbers and some revenue” for the Pelican State.
“We’re just anxious to see what a full season does for us,” he added.
He also said that July has five weekends while august has only four which may have contributed to the decline in numbers last month.
Football Season Will Be Crucial
This has been the sir energy that the the top regular expressed when asked about his expectations for how much money sports betting would generate last summer, he said that he felt confident the sports betting market was on track to meet or exceed those estimates.
The Legislative Fiscal Office estimated last year at around $30 million in taxes during their first year of operation and it looks like the football season will be the key to achieving that.
Not considering the football season, the Pelican State has generated around $14.3 million in tax revenue since it launched. And if the football season will account for 60% of the total sports betting tax revenue, it is estimated that Louisiana can collect $35.7 million, well above the target.
