Revenue in Mississippi Continues to Decline, May Brought Decrease by 42.1%

The regulated sports betting market in Mississippi has posted another month-on-month decline. The total revenue in May drastically fell down by 42.1%…

…which makes it $1.2m. The numbers are significantly lower than the ones from April when the revenue had also decreased.

Drastic Decline

According to figures from the Mississippi Gaming Commission, the total handle across the state’s three regions (northern, coastal and central) fell 9.1% to $17.4m. The market continued its declining trend from 10.72% in April to 6.84%. The largest share of revenue and handle was generated…

…at coastal casinos. Expressed in numbers, it ed for $11.0m – 62.9% – of amounts wagered and $626,283.15, or 52.5%, of revenue. However, the overall statistics reported a decrease, as the handle was down 7.4% month-on-month, and revenue fell 44.2%.

Basketball as the Biggest Hope

Punters in the region staked $5.6m on baseball, with the Major League Baseball season running until September 29, though a weak 3.85% hold saw casinos generate revenue of $215,881.16. Basketball was also among popular activities in May. The National Basketball Association playoffs took place during the month, resulting in $3.6m in stakes and revenue of $251,690.11.

Just to remind, the situation regarding revenue in March was completely different. The total wagering amount (handle) made an impressive 28.9% leap on a monthly basis, to $32.4 million. The key contributor to overall good results during this month was basketball, as it ed for $25 million of total bets – or 77%.

Difficult Month for Northern Region

Casinos in the state’s northern region reported a particularly difficult month, with figures down 12.5% to $4.0m, and revenue plummeting 53.0% to $260,189.70. As with the coastal casinos, basketball generated the majority of the handle ($1.5m)…

…though an especially weak hold of 1.35% saw the northern casinos generate revenue of just $19,952.51. Basketball was slightly better, with the casinos acquiring revenue of $98,011.21 from $1.3m in wagers.

Sports parlay cards proved to be the most lucrative product for this region, ing for more than half of the monthly revenue ($133,316.42) from stakes of $913,415.20.

Central Region’s Slightly Brighter Picture

The fall in revenue from the northern casinos saw Mississippi’s central region move up to become the second-largest source of revenue in May. However, the regional total of $305,494.27…

…represented a 20.0% month-on-month slide. Again, basketball proved to be the most popular sport for this region as well, attracting stakes of $1.6m, from which the casinos generated revenue of $$133,569.72.

In contrast to the coastal and northern casinos, the state’s central region saw significantly less wagered on baseball – $628,487.15 – though held $83,071.35 with a 13.22% win percentage. For sports parlay cards, however, the region held $157,883.61 from stakes of $499,375.38 – a 31.62% win percentage.

Source:

“Mississippi betting revenue down 42.1% in May”, Robin Harrison Millan, igbnorthamerica.com, June 19, 2019.