Mississippi Sportsbook Handle Grows in August Thanks to Increase in Football Betting

The sports betting market in Mississippi is back on track in August after a relatively poor performance in July. During the 8th month of the year, punters in this state placed $19.9 million in sports wagers, which is a monthly increase of 48.5%.

This big difference on a monthly basis is mostly caused by the start of the college football season which is an interlude to early stages of NFL season. The amount of bets on football games ed the $6 million mark.

One Year of Sports Betting

That is the annual rise of handle of 152% while looking at it on a monthly basis, it amounts to a 792% surge!

The revenue from the said $6 million handle was $1.8 million. The entire sportsbook handle rose 347% on annual level. August 2019 marks exactly one year since legal sports betting was introduced in Mississippi.

Sports betting is only allowed in casinos’ premises in this state and the majority of money wagered…

…originates from facilities in the South’s coastal region. In total, in this region, $13m was wagered and casinos won $1.8m in revenue. The share of bets coming from Coastal region rose from 54% in July to 65.4%. At the same time, revenue rose over three times.

Parlay Card; Big in North

Meanwhile, in the Northern region…

…the handle amounted to $4.5m and casinos took in $617,582 in revenue. North saw a rise in popularity of parlay cards – in total, $1.4m was wagered and in turn created a revenue of $304,728. This is, in fact, a larger revenue than any individual sport managed to generate in this region in August. In total, North’s handle rose 31% while revenue increased 109.1%…

In Central region, where Jackson – Mississippi’s largest city – is, there was a total handle of $2.4m and a revenue of $435,785. Both increased 80.4% and 129.8% respectively.

But even though it was football that drove this market’s rise in August…

…baseball still remains number one sport and a personal favorite of bettors. Baseball bets had a total handle of $9.3m. Football did bring more revenue than any other sport, however, because most of the bets placed in August were paid out in September and there was a total win percentage of 30.2%.

On sports parlay cards , $3.5m was wagered. Basketball saw a handle of $383,893.

MGM Enhances Mississippi Venue

MGM Resorts International has opened a new sportsbetting venue in Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica in July.

They have invested $7 million in this property that is called Moneyline Book, Bar and Grill.It contains 50-foot bar with 16 video poker machines and a 6,000 square foot race and sportsbook, along with 16-foot displays, 60 HD screens and a giant video wall.

David Tsai, Gold Strike president and COO, said of this addition:

“Last August, Gold Strike and MGM Resorts were the first to launch legalised sports betting in Mississippi, ushering in a new era of sports entertainment. Nearly a year later, we up the ante on the sports betting and sports entertainment experience in the Mid-South, with the opening of Moneyline Book, Bar & Grill and our own Topgolf Swing Suite.”

Source:

“Football drives Mississippi sportsbook handle growth”, igbnorthamerica.com, September 19, 2019.