The Louisiana Gaming Control board released its first full month of legalized sports betting. Sportsbook operators that conduct business in the state took in a combined total of $211 million in February.
Louisiana Overall Sports Betting Handle
The legalized sports betting market started in the Bayou State on January 28th, and $40.5 million in wagers were taken in the last four days in January. That extra $40.5 million has brought the total to $251.5 million.
Sports betting isn’t legal throughout the whole state as the operation is legal in 55 of the 64 parishes. The legal parishes include major gaming hubs that include New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and Shreveport/Bossier City. People who don’t live in a parish where sports betting is legal, they must drive to one that does.
The state also has six reputable sportsbooks that include Barstool, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Louisiana will look to add more sportsbooks down the line, but this is a good start for the market.
Bookmarkers were allowed to deduct their losses incurred from January promotions for the companies to attract new users to their platforms. Louisiana’s goal is to become a strong market in the sports betting industry. The state was able to collect $2.21 million in taxes with the help of the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl Plays a Big Role With the Sports Betting Handle
The LSU Tigers are known to produce some elite talent that eventually makes it to the NFL. A majority of LSU fans were rooting for Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase the Cincinnati Bengals as he led the LSU Tigers to a 2020 National Title against Clemson. On the Los Angeles Rams, Odell Beckham Jr. also played football there.
The state also benefited from residents from Texas crossing state lines to partake in the action. A recent study shows that at least one million people from Texas place wagers through an offshore or local bookie. That is about $5 billion on which the state is missing out on.
Louisiana is the only Gulf Coast state with legal mobile sports betting from Texas to Florida. Texas is the second-most populous state in the country, and HardRock Sportsbook was legal in the state for a few weeks before being shut down.
A Houston furniture salesman Jim McIngvale, also known as Mattress Mack, went to Louisiana to place the two of the biggest mobile sports betting wagers in history through Caesars Sportsbook.
The outcome of the game cost the notable bettor a total of $9.5 million as he took the Bengals ML. If he had taken the spread, the result would have been in his favor.
Retail sports betting also boosted the total by another $27.3 million. However, February’s total declined a total of approximately $22 million when compared to January. It’s important to note that January had five weekends in its schedule.
March Madness to Bring a Huge Boost to the Total
Both LSU’s men and women will partake in the March Madness tournament. The men will go up against Iowa State at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Interim head coach, Kevin Nickelberry, will be running the shots as former head coach Will Wade was let go due to NCAA recruiting allegations.
The women will go up against Jackson State in the opening round at home at Pete Maravich Center, with first-year coach Kim Mulkey leading the charge. Mulkey has won three national championships in 21 seasons at Baylor before returning home.
This is expected to be a big event for the sports betting industry as the American Gaming Association expects 45 million Americans will place a wager on this event.