Sports wagering revenue in Mississippi almost doubled month-on-month, and increased 19.2% year-on-year to $37.9m while the state took in $5.6m in revenue from sports bets.
Much of the year-on-year growth came from casinos in the state’s central region. Although amounts wagered were the lowest of Mississippi’s three regions, handle increased to $5.1m, up 75.6% from September 2018.
Revenue from the region totaled $780,798, up 65.9% year-on-year, as bookmakers in the region recorded a 15.29% win percentage, the state’s Gaming Commission revealed.
The coastal region remained the largest source of activity, with stakes of $25.4m representing a 14.7% increase from the prior year. However, the region’s win percentage declined from 17.7% to 13.9%, causing coastal region revenue to decline 10.2% to $3.5m.
The northern region of the state handled $7.4m in sports wagers, up 9.6% from 2018. The win percentage in the region came to 18.1%, ensuring revenue rose 19% to $1.3m.
In terms of sports, the return of the NFL from September 5 made football the most popular sport for wagers in the state, with $25.7m staked, more than two thirds of the state’s overall handle.
The sport’s popularity was consistent from region to region, as it was responsible for 70.1% of central region handle, 69.2% of northern region handle and 66.8% of coastal region handle. Revenue from football amounted to $2.9m across the state, or 50.9% of Mississippi’s monthly total.
Parlay cards were comfortably the most profitable form of betting for Mississippi bookmakers, bringing in $2.2m in revenue on $6.5m worth of bets. They were the largest source of revenue in the northern region of the state, bringing in $729,744 on a $1.2m handle.
While just $599,108 was wagered on parlay cards in the central region, that represented a 297.1% increase year-on-year, while revenue from parlays rose 387.3% to $187,373. Bookmakers in the coastal region took in $1.3m on parlay cards on $4.6m worth of bets.
Punters in the state wagered $5m on baseball, up 32.1% year-on-year. While bookmakers in the state made only $349,976 in revenue form those bets for a 7.1% win percentage, that marked an improvement from September 2018, when bookies lost money on baseball.
Basketball handle totaled $155,273, while revenue from the sport totaled $29,055.
The state’s total revenue figure of $5.6m was a 95.2% increase from August, but only a 2.3% increase from September 2018, as win percentage fell from 17.3% last year to 14.9% in 2019.