Louisiana sports betting posted another month of steady growth in May 2026, with bettors pouring more than $317 million into the state's sportsbooks. While the overall handle climbed compared to a year earlier, the real story sits underneath the surface, where a single product is quietly carrying the entire market.
A Strong Month for Handle and Tax Collections
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board indicated that sportsbooks took in $317,974,369 in wagers during May, an increase of 5.76% from the same month last year. That volume translated into $44,796,079 in gross gaming revenue, yielding a hold rate of 14.09%, a notably high figure compared to many other regulated markets across the country.
The tax picture tells an even bigger story. Louisiana collected $9,477,597 in tax revenue for the month, a 41% year-over-year increase. That surge is not really about bettors losing more money. It is about policy. Under Act 298, signed into law in 2025, Louisiana raised its online sports betting tax rate from 15% to 21.5% while keeping the retail rate steady at 10%. A portion of that new revenue flows directly into the SPORT Fund, which supports athletic departments at Division I public universities across the state, including LSU. Louisiana became the first state to raise sports betting taxes specifically to help fund college athletics, a model other states are watching closely as programs adjust to paying athletes directly.
Parlays Remain the Backbone of the Market
If there is one number that defines Louisiana sports betting apps right now, it is this. Parlays generated $33.6 million in net proceeds in May, roughly 77% of all sportsbook revenue in the state. That single category outproduced every traditional straight bet on baseball, basketball, football, and soccer combined, which totaled only about $5.9 million.
The math behind this is straightforward. Each additional leg on a parlay ticket stretches the odds and widens the operator's edge, so a slate of multi-leg tickets returns far more to the sportsbook per dollar wagered than a simple single-game bet. That dynamic explains why Louisiana's hold rate is well above the low-single-digit margins seen in states where straight betting dominates.
Online Betting Keeps Pulling Away From Retail
The shift toward mobile wagering also continued in May. Online betting rose 7.1% to $304.2 million, now accounting for 95.67% of all activity in the state. Retail sportsbooks moved in the opposite direction, falling 17% to $13.8 million and extending a multi-year decline from $18.4 million in May 2024.
Looking ahead, May may end up being remembered as the calm before a much larger surge. The 2026 World Cup kicked off in June, marking the first time the tournament has been hosted primarily in the United States. Soccer accounted for less than 2% of Louisiana's sportsbook proceeds in May, but tournament matches played in American time zones could push that share into territory the state has never seen before, setting June and July up as months to watch closely.
