Louisiana Casino Revenue Falls in August; Sports Betting Handle Rises

The Bayou State’s gambling numbers declined across the board in August compared to the July Louisiana gambling revenue report, but the sports betting handle delivered one bit of good news for sportsbook operators in the state.

For Louisiana casinos, all four segments reported by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board decreased in a month-over-month comparison.

In all, the August combined revenue of $243,623,862 was down 10.1% from the $270,908,107 reported in July.

The August numbers were an improvement over the same time last year. In August 2021, Louisiana collected $214,822,754 in casino revenue; last month’s number figure was 13.4% higher.

There are no online gambling sites in Louisiana.

Riverboat casinos took in $134.7 million in revenue for August, an 11.5% decline from July’s $152.2 million, according to the LGCB website. Riverboat casinos are the most popular form of Louisiana gambling, at least from an in-person perspective.

Video gaming terminals fell the least in August, with a $64.2 million total, 3.8% lower than July’s $66.74 million. The steepest decline belonged to the lone land-based casino, at Harrah’s New Orleans. That facility went from $22.63 million in July to $19.34 million in August, a 14.5% decrease.

Racinos, or slot machines at four horse racing tracks statewide, dropped 13.4%, from $29.3 million in July to nearly $25.4 million.

The total collected for August was the lowest in 2022 and the smallest amount since the state took in $214.8 million in Louisiana revenue in September 2021.

The results were mixed for Louisiana sportsbooks last month.

The handle, or amount wagered, on sporting events for August was $128,251,857, up 8.2% from July (more than $118 million).

As has been the case ever since Louisiana launched sports betting in late 2021, mobile wagering dominated. The mobile sports betting handle in August was $112.05 million, an 8.4% increase from July’s $103.3 million. Those online wagers represented 87.4% of the state’s total.

The retail sports betting handle in August was $16.2 million, or 6.7% more than the $15.18 million in July.

The news was not as good on the revenue front, mirroring the results from other forms of gaming at casinos. Sports wagering revenue fell 54.6%, from $20.85 million in July to $9.46 million for August. Taxes directed toward state coffers from sports betting fell 27.5%, from $2.45 million the previous month to $1.77 million in August.

The news is bound to get better in Louisiana next month, at least for sports betting. The New Orleans Saints got their season underway in September and the state’s other favorite football team, the LSU Tigers, also got college football betting started and already got their SEC portion of the schedule started with Saturday’s 31-16 win over Mississippi State.