Basketball dominates Mississippi betting market in March

Mississippi’s regulated sports betting market has seen revenue grow strongly in March, as a result of punters betting heavily on basketball over the month.

Amounts wagered across all sports rose to 28.9% to $32.4m (£25.1m/€29.1m) in March, with the majority of handle generated from betting on basketball, which accounted for $25.0m (77.0%) of total stakes.

Interest in the sport is traditionally higher over the month, with the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s (NCAA) annual basketball tournament, commonly known as March Madness, taking place. The tournament began on March 19 and ran until April 8, with the University of Virginia’s Virginia Cavaliers team winning.

This growth in stakes helped total revenue grew 77.7% month-on-month to $4.9m, with total market hold amounting to 15.11%. Basketball again dominated, with betting on the sport accounting for $3.4m, or 70.4%, of total revenue.

Sports parlay cards were the second most popular betting product, accounting for $4.4m of handle and $1.0m of revenue. Baseball, meanwhile, generated stakes of $714,993.28, and revenue of $177,817.65, with customers staking $2.4m on other sports, from with sportsbooks generated revenue of $236,891.75.

Sportsbooks in Mississippi’s coastal casinos lead the market, with the region accounting for $18.5m of handle and $2.5m of revenue in March. However the region had the lowest hold percentage, at 13.77%,

It was followed by the northern region, where customers wagered $9.2m, with sportsbooks holding 14.51% of stakes, or $1.3m. The central region added a further $4.7m in handle, and $1.0m in revenue, with its 21.53% hold by far the largest in the market.