Fewer Louisians appeared to be placing bets on Super Bowl LVII than last year, Louisiana Gaming Control Board chairman Ronnie Johns said Thursday, and Joe Burrow or the novelty of sports betting may be part of the reason.
The board received a general overview of the performance of state-authorized sportsbooks in February during its Wednesday meeting, although the full reports were not released on the board’s website. Donna Jackson, the board’s audit supervisor, said mobile sportsbooks brought in about $17.7 million in February, while brick-and-mortar sites added about $1.5 million in net revenue.
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“It seems… our Super Bowl numbers are down significantly compared to last year,” Johns said during the meeting. “Maybe that’s because Joe Burrow wasn’t in the Super Bowl, or maybe it’s the newness of sports betting in 2022. I don’t know why, but it seems that the number of bets placed for the Super Bowl compared to last year year-on-year, although the numbers were good.”
The data for the number of bets written for February 2023 is not yet available, so it is difficult to assess whether there was less interest in betting on this year’s game. Last year in February around 27.4 million bets were placed for sports betting in retail and around 211 million for mobile apps.
Anecdotally, there seems to be a reason this year’s Super Bowl is less interesting to the sports betting world. Remarkably, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale – the owner of the Houston Gallery furniture store and one of the most prominent sports betting patrons in Louisiana – did not place a wager on the game ESPN gambling reporter tweeted.
But in terms of winnings, sportsbooks are probably not complaining. Mobile app net revenue of $17.7 million was an increase of approximately $1 million, or 6.3%, from February 2022. Retail sportsbooks have doubled net revenue since February 2022, up nearly $860,000 -Dollar.
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March has historically been a big month for states with legalized sports betting, especially with March Madness in full swing. As of March 2022, Louisiana’s mobile and retail sportsbook had more than 233.1 million combined bets, which was the fifth-highest monthly total in 2022.
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Mobile and retail sportsbooks combined generated approximately $30.1 million in net revenue in March 2022 — the fourth-best month last year.
McIngvale is also back in the game for March Madness, wagering more than $4 million on the #1 Houston Cougars to win it all.
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This article originally appeared in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana Gambling Board says bets have fallen for Super Bowl LVII
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