How Louisiana played a big role in sports betting for the Super Bowl

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The Super Bowl is one of the busiest days of the year, if not the busiest, for sports betting agencies.

Even though the Saints were not playing in the big game, a couple of LSU legends taking the field would be enough to get any Louisiana football fan engaged. Several casinos are still awaiting approval for in-person betting, but mobile betting took things to the next level.

“We just saw tens of thousands of people turn out in the state to both in-person at Bossier City Horseshoe, at Harrah’s in New Orleans, and then of course on the mobile app. So, it was a great turnout,” Ken Fuchs, Head of Sports for Caesars Sportsbook, said.

As for who is betting the most, that would be men between the ages of 25 and 36. Right now, data from Super Bowl bets are still being collected. Ken Fuchs with Caesars Sportsbook says an accurate figure on how much Louisiana contributed overall is still being looked at.

“We’re still counting everything out; we don’t release that stuff right away. So, you’ll just have to wait and see where we wind up, but overall, we’re really happy with the engagement we saw,” Fuchs said.

Even with most folks here likely losing money after putting it all on Joe Burrow and the Bengals, Ken said taking the chance is all part of the fun and won’t hurt the chances of people placing bets in the future.

“I mean I think that’s part of sports betting, you know, it’s supposed to be fun and done responsibly. It just gives you a little added excitement, something to talk about with your friends. Whether you bet on the Bengal’s or not, what we find is that people tend to bet on a bunch of different things and there’s always a mix,” Fuchs continued.

They say everything’s bigger in Texas but since the lone star state hasn’t legalized sports betting. A notable Texan crossed state lines to place a big bet. He put $9.5 million on the Cincinnati Bengals.

“Louisiana hosted the single biggest bet in the history of sports betting in the U.S with Mattress Mack, so there’s no bigger bet that’s ever been made and it was done in the state of Louisiana,” Fuchs continued.

One of the local casinos waiting for their in-person sports betting approval is the Hollywood Casino in Downtown Baton Rouge. Employees there expect to have that up and running by next month.

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