Louisiana's retail sportsbooks see $10M revenue in first two months

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board reported that more than 67 million wagers were made at Louisiana’s retail sportsbooks during November and December, and nearly $10.1 million were made across the two final months of 2021, and the first two for the market, after tracking sports betting figures at 11 active establishments. 

The sportsbooks also brought in more than $1 million in tax revenue for the state in November and December combined. 

In November, Boomtown Bossier City, Boomtown New Orleans, Golden Nugget Lake Charles, Harrah’s New Orleans, Horseshoe Bossier City, both L’Auberge locations and Margaritaville combined for 27.6 million wagers and $5.7 million in revenue. 

The other three locations (Treasure Chest in Kenner, Delta Downs in Vinton and Evangeline Downs in Opelusas) started their sportsbooks in December, a month in which Louisiana’s sportsbooks saw 39.5 million wagers and $4.4 million in revenue. Two more sportsbooks, Amelia Belle near Morgan City and Sam's Town in Shreveport, started operations in January.  

Parlay bets brought in more than half of the establishments’ total revenue in November and December, totaling more than $6.1 million. Football bets accounted for nearly $3.3 million, a third of the total, as the last two months of the year saw the back half of the NFL season, as well as the final few weeks of the college football season and a chunk of bowl games. 

Basketball brought in around $594,750 across the two months. Soccer wager revenue totaled $54,000. 

Around 15% of the wagers placed in this two-month period were wins. In November, there was a 20.6% success rate for gamblers, and 11.1% in December. 

Despite these numbers, the launch of online sports betting still has no confirmed date. Chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Commission, Ronnie Johns, established earlier this month that the timeline is being modified daily, but that his goal is to launch ahead of the Super Bowl, on February 13. 

"We are working literally on a daily basis to finalize all of the compliance issues and the technical issues with sports betting", he said, and added that the State Police are still determining the suitability of the launch.