Louisiana online betting draws $211m in wagers in first full month

Louisiana opened its regulated market on 28 January following the launch of retail sports wagering in October of last year.

Penn National Gaming and its Barstool sportsbook, Caesars, DraftKings, Rush Street Interactive and its BetRivers sportsbook, and Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel Group in partnership with Boyd Gaming all went live with online sports betting on opening day.

A total of $40.5m was wagered by consumers during the first four days of regulated online betting in the state in January.

Revenue from the first full month of online sports wagering amounted to $16.7m, though this included $11.7m in revenue from promotional wagers. Excluding these offers, revenue was $2.7m.

Football betting was the main source of revenue for online operators, generating $9.8m, ahead of basketball on $5.1m and parlay betting at $4.4m.

Looking at retail betting, players staked $27.4m during February, down 44.4% from $49.3m in January and the lowest monthly total since legalisation last year.

Retail revenue reached $642,663 for the full month, which was 88.0% down from $5.3m in January and also the lowest monthly amount so far in Louisiana’s regulated market.

Breaking retail revenue down by sport, parlay bets generated $647,128 in revenue and basketball $492,568, but a $696,314 loss in football wagering drove the total figure down.

When combining online and retail, the state’s total handle was $238.4m. Revenue including promotional bets was $17.3m, while after excluding these offers, total revenue was $5.6m.