Mississippi Reports Year-on-Year Revenue Drop of 86.8% for March

According to the statistics, Mississippi’s sports betting revenue fell sharply in the past month. Among the main reasons for this considerable decrease is the cancellation of the popular National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament as well as the state’s casinos shut from March 16. Amounts wagered decreased 66.8% from March 2019 to $10.7m, which also represents a 68.8% drop from February 2020.

Due to retail betting being the only legalized option in the state, the closing effectively brought the month to a premature end. However, revenue from the coastal casinos amounted to $254,320.43 (down 90.0%) meaning Mississippi’s central region casinos led the market in of revenue generated.

March “Sadness” instead of Madness

After the March Madness tournament, which drove customer activity in the prior year, was canceled, the revenue for the month dropped 86.8% year-on-year to $648,646.60 (or 69.2% month-on-month).

As a small reminder…

…this event, which has been broadcasted since 1969 is one of the most important events in the USA’s sports calendar. Last year, H2GC predicted that the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s (NCAA) so-called “March Madness” will result in a $12.1 billion handle in sports wagers.

What made the last-years MM so special was the fact that it was the first one in post-PASPA America, which is why it was expected that people would place more than they did on previous contests.

Coastal Facilities Led the Market

On the other hand, the state’s coastal venues continue to for the bulk of activity, with $6.6m wagered at these properties in March, down 64.3% from the prior year. Basketball ed for $4.8m of customer stakes, due to the MM cancelation five days before it was scheduled to start.

As for the hubs in the central region…

… $1.6m was wagered in total. This represents a decrease of 65.5%, though an especially high hold percentage of 22.91% meant that revenue amounted to $371,887.78. While this represents a 63.3% year-over-year decline, it still beat the coastal casinos’ monthly total. Basketball again led the way, ing for $1.2m of stakes, and $193,011.11 of revenue.

Meanwhile, the state’s northern venues, contributed $2.5m in stakes, a 96.0% decline from March 2019, with revenue falling 98.3% to $22,438.39.

Bringing More Value to Sports Fans

CrystalBetting terminals at Pearl River Resort, part of Choctaw Indians’ top casino properties. This made them the first facilities in the world to enable pre-match as well as in-game sports wagering.

Source:

“Mississippi betting revenue plummets in March”, Robin Milan Harrison, igbnorthamerica.com, April 15, 2020.