No doubt getting a boost from another fine NCAA Tournament run by the Arkansas men’s basketball team, the operators of Arkansas sports betting set records again in March.
The Razorbacks made the Sweet 16 in March Madness for the third straight year, including a second-round upset victory against No. 1 seed Kansas. That dramatic 72-71 win, on March 18, sent Arkansas into the third round the following week. There, coach Eric Musselman’s team was bounced by eventual national champion Connecticut, 88-65.
It was the third year in a row that Arkansas made at least the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament; the previous two years, the Hogs advanced to the Elite Eight.
Arkansas Sports Betting, March vs. February
Arkansas Sportsbooks Exceed Previous Highs
The total sports betting handle in March was $37,474,412, breaking the state’s high-water mark of $32.98 million in January.
That handle, or amount wagered, was also a 26.9% increase over the $29.53 million reported in February.
Of that total handle, $31,942,593, or 85.2%, was wagered online, again a new record. The previous mark ($26.14 million) also stood for just two months, while the March total was a 28.5% boost from February’s $24.86 million.
The sports betting net win, or revenue, increased even more dramatically, rising 149.4% from $1.71 million in the Arkansas February casino revenue report to $4,264,047 last month.
That, again, was a state record, erasing the mark of $3,409,972 from December 2022. The revenue from online sportsbooks was $3,452,709 in March.
Each of the state’s three casinos have individual online sportsbook deals – Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff has the BetSaracen app, Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs partnered with the Kambi Group and Southland Casino in West Memphis uses Betly for its mobile sports wagering.
Most major operators – which would offer Arkansas promo codes as incentives for signing up – are steering clear of The Natural State, which has a law dictating that sportsbooks must share 51% of their revenue with casinos. In other states with legal, regulated sports betting, that rate is much lower.
BetSaracen took the most mobile sportsbook handle in the state for March at $21.17 million, followed by Betly ($7.63 million) and Kambi ($3.15 million).
Arkansas Casino Numbers Also Rise
The combined handle at the state’s three casinos was $707.25 million in March, an 11.7% hike from $633.34 million the month before.
As for net win, or revenue, that increased 10.6%, from $49.56 million in February to $54.81 million last month.
Southland was the leader in handle – known in Arkansas casino circles as “terminal wagers” – with $342.79 million in March, the highest total since the facility took nearly $360 million in bets in April 2021. Oaklawn’s handle was $190.83 million last month, the track’s best figure since March 2019 ($231.75 million) and Saracen recorded $173.63 million, that casino’s best total since $180.25 million in March 2022.
For monthly revenue, Southland topped the list at $26.38 million, again followed by Oaklawn ($14.58M) and Saracen ($13.86M).
