Mississippi's coastal sports betting revenue up nearly 8% in June

Casino revenues sprinted ahead in Mississippi in June, powered by a strong performance at Gulf Coast gambling halls.

Figures show gamblers lost $182 million in June, 7% more than in the same month in 2018. That includes $1.6 million in sports betting revenue at casinos, according to the June report from the Mississippi Gaming Commission

The 12 coastal casinos saw June revenue rise 12% to $109 million, continuing a strong run that began in spring 2018. The 14 river casinos saw revenue rise less than 1% from June 2018 to $72 million. It's the 10th increase in 11 months for a region hard-hit by competition. The increase comes despite Tunica County casinos that closed in January and May.

Statewide revenue is up 4% over the last 12 months. The numbers exclude Choctaw Indian casinos, which don't report to the state.

Sports betting

Mississippi sportsbooks took the least amount of bets in June since last August, the first month of legal sports betting in the state. According to the June report from the Mississippi Gaming Commission, the state sportsbooks wrote $15.19 million in bets, which resulted in $1.63 million in taxable revenue for June, traditionally one of the slowest months of the year. Coastal casinos were once again the main source of income, generating $709,901 from nearly $9 million in wagers – a win percentage for the casinos of 7.90%, and also a 7,90% increase year-over-year.

Baseball led all sports with $9.2 million handle, followed by basketball at $2.53 million, parlay cards at $2.05 million, “other” at $1.36 million, and football at $52,307. The overall hold was 10.7%, up significantly from May’s hold of 6.84%. The state has had a double-digit hold in four of the first six months of 2019.

Unlike Delaware and New Jersey, which use cash accounting systems, where futures bets are included in handle, Mississippi is using an accrual system like Nevada does, and future bets are held out of the total.

Like Delaware, Mississippi only offers sports betting at physical locations, though several properties were planning to test on-site mobile options over the summer. But the lack of statewide mobile, which died during the legislative session, is limiting Mississippi’s potential.

Not surprisingly in a traditionally slow sports month, handle dipped below the $300 million mark for the first time all year.