The Mississippi Gaming Commission’s latest monthly revenue report shows that the state’s licensed sportsbooks posted a sports betting handle of $36,125,895.57 for the month of May. This represents an 8.9% % increase from April’s handle of $32,917,836.38 but is still well short of January’s record-breaking handle of $67,707,627.70.
This is the second month in a row that Mississippi sportsbooks have failed to hit the $50M mark in overall handle. March was the last month the state broke that threshold with a sports betting handle of $50,546,885.86.
The state’s coastal sportsbooks located in casinos in Biloxi, Bay St. Louis, and Gulf Port were the market leaders once again with an overall handle of $20,657,343.19 for the region. This was more than double the handle reported by the state’s sportsbooks located in the central region who reported a $9,885,656.83 handle. Sportsbooks located in the state’s northern casinos reported a combined handle of $5,582,895.55.
Basketball remains the most popular sport for Mississippi gamblers attracting $14,960,282.61 in bets throughout the state accounting for 41.1% of the overall handle. The start of the MLB season saw baseball attract $7,372,499.10 in wagers cementing its place as the second most wagered on sport in the state.
The state’s sportsbooks reported $3,888,299.05 in taxable revenue. Despite the month’s higher handle, taxable revenue was down 9.6% from April’s figure of $4,300,968.03. The report also revealed that the overall win percentage for the month was 10.76% down 2.31% from April.
Image credit: _limoe / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.