Louisiana Sportsbooks Got Rich in 2025
The 9.3% "hold" – the amount of sports betting handle retained by sportsbooks after paying out winning wagers – that Louisiana operators kept in 2022 was the envy of a number of other state sportsbook industries.
The 12.6% hold amount in both 2023 and 2024 was much more impressive. But when the Louisiana Gaming Control Board released its final 2025 results, the sportsbooks were revealed to have kept a whopping 13.1% of the bets placed in the state.
The betting handle in Louisiana increased in each of those first four full years of legal sports betting - from $2.3 billion in 2022 to $2.9 billion to $3.7 billion and then to $4.1 billion in 2025.
The gross gaming revenue followed a similar path, clearing $200 million in 2022, then $300 million and $400 million, and finally $541.5 million in 2025.
The high point of the calendar year for hold percentage by sportsbooks was 15.9% in December. That figure had been exceeded only by the 16% held in September 2022. The December “hold rate” – the amount retained by the sportsbooks after winning bets are paid out – jumped more than 50% over December 2024.
Not even “Madness” could knock down Louisiana operators
Even the year's low of 8.3% in March 2025 was better than most U.S. states did in that month 6.2% nationally. The bonanza for bettors stemmed from men’s college basketball “March Madness” anomalies in results, with the favored team winning every game in the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4, and championship contests.
Historically, Louisiana’s 12.2% hold outpaces every state with at least 12 months of results in the books.
Will 2026 be even better for the books? The hold rate in January 2026 was 11.2% - a bit lower, but still leaving room for net profit even after expenses are included. Basketball – pro and college – has consistently outperformed its football counterparts since Louisiana first launched retail sports betting in October 2021 and mobile wagering three months later.
In the first seven months of Fiscal Year 2026 (which will end in June), $213.2 million was wagered on multi-leg parlays – the “secret sauce” to maximizing revenue – compared to just under $100 million bet on all single-game in all sports.
The 21.5% tax rate on mobile sports betting in Louisiana is slightly higher than the national average - but not so high as to run off major sportsbooks. In a unique quirk, nine of the state's 64 parishes - known as "counties" in the rest of the country - still do not allow sports betting within their borders in the northern portion of the state.
Louisiana casinos still thriving in 2025
The first casino in the U.S. opened in New Orleans, Louisiana way back in 1813. By the 1880s, the new mayor restricted such gambling to a specific section of the city. Later laws were created to no longer sanction such activity, but the reality was that casino gambling never really disappeared.
Fastforward to Louisiana's casino gaming industry in 2025 – it grew by almost 10% in 2025, to $2.17 billion.
Two Lake Charles casinos - the Golden Nugget and L'Auberge - dominate the state's riverboat industry overall, while Margaritaville is tops in the Bossier City market and L'Auberge's Baton Rouge property is the top revenue producer there.
Naturally, the land-based casino in New Orleans is the statewide leader in terms of revenue. That casino was known as Harrah's until a conversion to a Caesars-branded property was completed in 2024.
Caesars got off to a slow start in 2026, with January’s $21.1 million in revenue down more than 25% over the previous January.
Treasure Chest in Jefferson Parish, Margaritaville, Horseshoe Bossier City, and Live! Casino in Bossier City – which opened in February 2025 - all reported between $10 million and $14 million in revenue in the first month of 2026, helping the industry boost its collective revenue total just over 10% from 12 months earlier.
The state now features 15 riverboat casinos, three racinos at horse racing tracks, two tribal casinos, and the Caesars land-based casino.
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