Louisiana sportsbooks had a successful first year! According to reports, the state generated billions of dollars in action and millions more in tax revenue. Parlays emerged as the top retail and mobile betting option for Louisianians.
Louisiana began offering retail and online sportsbooks in November 2021, becoming just one of the growing number of states to legalize sports betting. Performance for the past 12 months resulted in positive remarks from regulators.
Louisiana Sports Betting Update
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board just held its monthly meeting, and chair Ronnie Johns had some impressive news to deliver. He reported that the state’s sports betting handle since inception last November 2021 reached $1.8 billion, meaning resident bettors wagered that much in just one year of operation.
Through the legalization of retail and online wagering, the Pelican State does not just prevent bettors to place wagers on illegal local bookies or engaging with unregulated offshore sportsbooks, it also turns it into $26.4 million in tax revenue for the benefit of residents.
In addition, regulators also announced the record-breaking performance of the Louisiana sports betting market after sportsbooks’ handle reach $255.5 million in October – well above the previous record of 238,413,596 last February.
Louisianians Love Parlays
According to the statistics, Louisianians seem to overwhelmingly favor parlay play when gambling. In the year since legal wagering was made available in the state, mobile gamblers have placed $96 million in wagers using the parlay option. T
hat figure is significantly higher than the amount of money placed on other types of bets. Retail gamblers have also shown a preference for parlays, with $22.8 million being wagered using this option.
For those who are not familiar, Parlay is a sports betting option that allows players to group multiple bets into a single wager. Consequently, if all of the individual bets win, the parlay also wins and pays out a much higher amount than each of the component bets would have paid individually. However, having one wrong bet will result in the loss of the entire parlay. This is a popular betting option for NBA and NFL fans where there are numerous games throughout the season.
It is interesting to see that legal Louisiana sportsbooks are having such success in their first year of operation. With their successful launch, the state should continue to benefit from increased tax revenue and an entertaining form of legal sports gambling for its residents.
