Which States Have The Worst Sports Bettors Ever?

DOVER, Del. – Despite having legal sports betting, there are a few states whose sports bettors may wish they had a tougher time to bet. The average hold rate for a sportsbook is 7% – this is the percentage of money sportsbooks keep after paying out all of their winners.

This number is then taxed by the local government in varying degrees from 6.25%-51%, depending on the state.

However, some states are seeing their sports bettors lose at a much higher rate, allowing the state government to see a boosted benefit.

States With The Worst Sports Bettors

No state is as bad as Delaware. With no mobile sports betting options, those betting on sports in DE have three retail locations to visit.

After four full years of data, the win percentage of Delaware sports betting players is 85.3%. This is more than double the normal rate, allowing DE sportsbooks to cash in much quicker.

Of the 30+ states with legal sports betting, only six have a win rate under 90%.

• Delaware – 85.3% win rate
• Montana – 86.5% win rate
• Washington DC – 87.5% win rate
• Maryland – 88.8% win rate
• Mississippi 88.8% win rate
• Arkansas – 89.4% win rate

Removing these six states bumps the hold rate for all US sportsbooks down to 4.9%. An extreme jump, these six states account for over a 2% change for the national market.

What Is Causing The Bad Win Rate?

Only speculation leads us to answers about why the win rate is as low as it is. However, the lack of mobile betting could play a role.

These six states are all notorious for their mobile betting struggles.

• Delaware – no online sportsbooks available
• Montana – Sports Bet Montana requires physical presence at a retail book.
• Washington DC – two books have a 2-block radius availability while GambetDC has noted many issues.
• Maryland – long delays have even permitted MD from releasing mobile betting regulations.
• Mississippi – similar to Montana, the PRR Sports App and BetMGM app are only available on location.
• Arkansas – the only state without mobile restrictions, but launched Feb. 28, 2022

While there is no exact answer as to why these states have shown the worst sports betting abilities, the ability to bet on one thing from anywhere or chase a loss is much easier with mobile betting.

Only time will tell how mobile betting impacts these states moving forward, but one thing is for certain – there is much room for improvement.

News tags: Arkansas | Delaware | Maryland | Mississippi | Montana | Washington DC