Sports betting revenue in Mississippi dropped sharply year-on-year in August, dropping 49.7% to $1.9m as Hurricane Ida forced patrons to stay home and casinos to close towards the end of the month.
Compared to July, revenue was down 10.4%.
The $1.9m in revenue came on bets worth $21.4m, a year-on-year drop of 47.2% as operators’ win percentage game to 8.8%.
Just under half of the state’s sports betting revenue came from sportsbooks in the state’s coastal region, which contains most of the state’s large casinos. These casinos took in $894,312, down 61.4% from August 2020, on bets worth $13.8m, down 34.6%.
The central region of the state followed, bringing in revenue of $639,850, a 6.0% year-on-year decline, on handle of $4.0m, down 22.0%.
Casinos in the Northern region of Mississippi brought in $352,242, a drop of 54.0% as the total amount wagered in the region dropped 70.4% to $3.6m.
Baseball – the only one of the four major US sports in season during the month – brought in close to half of the state’s revenue, at $921,443 as players staked $12.4m.
Football revenue was $137,000 as the NFL season approached, while basketball revenue was negative, as players won $36,532 more than they staked.
Parlay cards brought in $452,560 on bets worth $1.9m.
During the final days of the month, Mississippi casinos – particularly in the coastal region – were heavily impacted by Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in neighbouring Louisiana on 29 August.
The hurricane caused widespread flooding in Mississippi. Most casinos in coastal areas such as Biloxi closed on 28 August, which otherwise may have been a strong day for betting with the start of the NCAA football season.
Most casinos in the state reopened in early September.