Does Bettors’ Success Come Down to Mobile Betting?

• Sportsbooks posting the highest hold percentages are found in states without mobile sports betting.
• But, states with mobile-only sports betting aren’t seeing better bettors across the US industry.
• States with professional sports teams could play more of a factor than mobile betting access.

DOVER, Del. – Betting on sports from a phone could be helping sports bettors in the US. In the six states posting the lowest winning percentages from bettors, four don’t have statewide mobile sports betting apps.

State	Percentage	Mobile?
Delaware	14.75%	No
Montana	13.47%	On Casino Grounds Only
Washington DC	12.49%	Launched 05/20
Maryland	11.90%	No
Mississippi	11.20%	On Casino Grounds Only
Arkansas	10.47%	Launched 02/22

These states open the idea if having mobile sports betting helps bettors. The best sports bettors in the US are in an open market of legal sportsbooks and allow sportsbooks to win at less than a 7% margin.

• Nevada – 5.60%
• Colorado – 6.17%
• Iowa – 6.32%
• New Jersey – 6.81%
• New Hampshire – 6.84%

The eight states with an average win rate (7-8%), all have mobile sports betting as well.

The Data Doesn’t Support It

Despite being able to make these claims, the data doesn’t line up all the way. In the next subset, seven states report sports betting hold percentages of 8-10%. Six of them have online sportsbooks available.

But, two of those states (Wyoming, Tennessee) are mobile-betting only. Wyoming sportsbooks report the seven-highest win percentage. This means the mobile-only sports betting has not factored well for Wyoming players.

Likewise, Tennessee sportsbooks are above average in taking players’ money.

So What Is The Separation?

Instead, the focus may be on the sporting culture of the states. The best performing sports bettors came in states where pro sports are everywhere.

In the top 10 states with the best sports bettors, seven held pro teams. These accounted for 38 teams with some (Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois) spanning the big five sports leagues.

In the 10 states with the worst sports bettors, only four had professional sports. These four states (Washington DC, Maryland, Louisiana, Oregon) account for 11 professional teams. But, Washington DC holds about half of them.

While many factors are at play, the numbers support having pro teams helping bettors more than mobile sports betting.

News tags: Arkansas | Colorado | Delaware | Iowa | Louisiana | Maryland | Mississippi | Montana | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | Oregon | Tennessee | Virginia | Washington DC | Wyoming