NFL drives Mississippi sports wagering
Betting on NFL American football propelled Mississippi’s sports wagering revenues up to $31.8m (£24.4m/€27.7m) in September, according to the latest figures.
The total represented a sharp increase on the first full month of legalised sports betting in Mississippi, which went live with its regulated market on August 1.
American football was responsible for more than half of all bets in September, with sportsbooks taking a total of $22.9m in wagers. The 2018 NFL season kicked off in early September.
Punters generated $5.5m of taxable revenue for the stake – a huge increase on $644,000 of taxable revenue, $7.7m in sales, in month one.
The state’s win percentage of 17.3% – the total revenue divided by the taxable revenue – was also a significant improvement on the 10% registered in August and placed Mississippi some way ahead of the Nevada average of between 5% and 7%.
Mississippi was also boosted in September by the launch of a host of sportsbooks that were not live until late August.
During the first month of regulation, just two sportsbooks were open and taking bets for the entire period. MGM was the only company to be live on day one.
Another 18 sportsbooks opened on August 17 or later, with the total number now standing at 22 active sportsbooks across the state.
Mississippi, one of several states to have legalised sports betting in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling on PASPA, is still some way behind New Jersey in terms of betting activity.
New Jersey, which also moved to regulate sports wagering post-PASPA, took a total of $40.6m in its first full month and $95.6m in August, the latter of which included revenue from online and mobile.
However, Mississippi does not yet offer sports wagering via online or mobile platforms, placing it at a disadvantage to the likes of New Jersey and Nevada.
Mississippi, with about three million inhabitants, is also a considerably smaller market than New Jersey, which is home to three times as many people.
According to the latest statistics, Mississippi also has the lowest median household income of all of the country’s mainland states.
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