(The Center Square) — Louisiana tax revenues continue to climb for mobile and retail sports wagering, while collections have been mixed for other gaming compared to last year.
Mobile sports wagers have increased from a total of $899.63 million for six months of fiscal year 2021-22 to $2.074 billion through 11 months of fiscal year 2022-23, resulting in an increase in net proceeds of 168% year to date for February through May 2023.
The proceeds have generated $33.34 million in taxes paid to the state through the end of May, compared to a total of $11.65 million collected in the last six months of fiscal year 2021-22, according to data from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.
It’s a similar situation with retail sports wagering, which generated $3.61 million in taxes from $37 million in proceeds through May of fiscal year 2022-23, compared to $2.3 million in taxes from $22.9 million in proceeds in eight months of fiscal year 2021-22.
Comparing November 2022 through May 2023 to the same months the year prior, proceeds from retail sports wagering were up 61.3%.
Taxes collected from daily fantasy sports are also up 1.2% year to date through May, going from $166,778 last year to $168,855 in fiscal year 2022-23.
“It’s really interesting numbers. In total revenue, 2022 was actually up around $23 million, but the reason for that basically was mobile sports wagering. Actually, riverboat revenue was down a little bit, racetrack was down a little bit, and video poker was down a little bit,” LGCB Chair Ronnie Johns said during the LGCB’s June meeting, citing a report comparing calendar years 2021 and 2022. “For 2023, we’re seeing some pretty good numbers on the riverboat side, mostly because of the Horseshoe and the Lake Charles market opening.”
Fees collected from Louisiana’s 14 riverboat casinos totaled $348.22 million through May, a decline of 2% year to date from fiscal year 2021-22 that translates to $7.9 million. Fees from Harrah’s New Orleans Casino, the only land-based casino, totaled $59.62 million through May, a 7% increase year to date that equates to an extra $3.7 million.
Franchise fees from 12,080 video gaming devices, meanwhile, totaled $217.62 million through May, which is down 5.8% from the same time in fiscal year 2021-22.
Taxes collected from slots at racetracks is also down 3% year over year, going from $45.93 million through May of fiscal year 2021-22 to $44.56 million this year.
