Louisiana has its elite eight.
The Pelican State added online sportsbook No. 8 this past week when UK-based bet365 debuted. For bet365, Louisiana is the seventh state the company offers sports betting.
The company is “thrilled” to be live in Louisiana and highlighted the various bet types and bonuses it typically offers its users, a bet365 spokesperson said in a press release.
How to use the bet365 Louisiana sportsbook
Sports bettors can sign up for bet365’s sportsbook by going to www.la.bet365.com or downloading the bet365 app. After providing a name, address, and other identity confirmations, users have access to the following features:
- Same game parlays, along with traditional bets like money lines, over/under, and the spread.
- Live streams of hundreds of thousands of sporting events
- Three different types of boosts can increase payouts, provided the bettor wins
- Live in-game prop bets
bet365 is offering new users a $365 bonus bet they can earn by placing at least a $1 bet. A minimum $10 deposit is required, and, among other things, the qualifying bet has to include odds of -500 or greater, according to the promotion’s fine print.
Where bet365 fits in the Louisiana sports betting market
With only eight online sports betting apps in Louisiana, the market isn’t quite as diluted in other states. With fewer sportsbooks at play, bet365 has, in theory, a better chance at grabbing an ample slice of the state’s sports betting handle (total amount bet).
For example, according to Louisiana gaming figures in October, the total online handle was $219 million and revenue hit $26 million.
However, bet365 faces some hurdles. First, all but one of the state’s sportsbooks opened in January 2022, including market leaders DraftKings and FanDuel. Those books have a distinct advantage, as they’ve had nearly two years to establish their market share through brand recognition and marketing.
Second, while revenue numbers for individual sportsbooks aren’t included in the Lousiana Gaming Control Board’s revenue reports, it’s safe to say that DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Caesars likely control at least 90% of the state’s handle. That leaves roughly between $10 million and $18 million in handle for the remaining four books.
It’s likely that bet365 will take four to five months to gain momentum in the market and, when that happens, it might, at best, grab around $2 million in handle and around $200,000 in revenue.
bet365 is gaining momentum in the US online gambling market
Louisiana is bet365’s seventh US sports betting market. The other six are:
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Virginia
We’ll likely see bet365 go live in North Carolina when mobile sports betting launches. Earlier this month, the company announced it signed a sports betting partnership with the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
In April, the company inked a multi-year deal with the MLB’s Colorado Rockies.