Louisiana capped a strong first 12 months of legal sports wagering in October with a record $255.5 million of betting handle in October, according to figures released by the Louisiana State Police, which oversees the gaming discipline in the Bayou State.
The previous record of $238.4 million came in February, fueled in large part by former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase playing for the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl. The availability of wagering on the NFL and college football regular seasons for the first time plus a fifth weekend proved decisive for the new record as handle increased 23.1% compared to September.
Overall, bettors made more than $1.8 billion worth of wagers in the first 12 months of activity. Of the six states that launched in 2021, Louisiana finished second only to Arizona for handle, but there are caveats to that runner-up status: Louisiana has approximately 1 million more residents than third-place Connecticut; Maryland will finally launch mobile wagering Wednesday; and the combined populations of Wyoming and South Dakota are less than one-third of Louisiana’s 4.6 million.
In October, operators cleared $30 million in gross revenue for the second consecutive month and third time overall, though the $30.7 million was 4.9% lower compared to September’s record of $32.3 million as the 12% hold for October was more than 3.5 percentage points lower than the prior month.