President Calvin Coolidge once said, “the business of America is business.”
Judging by hold percentage, legal gambling is becoming a bigger business in America. North Carolina sportsbooks, have been doing well recently.
Well above national averages, and just in time for the lucrative football season.
NC sportsbooks reaping high hold percentage in early going
Hold percentage is the proportion of bets retained by the “house” or the sportsbook after paying out winners. The higher the hold percentage, the better the sports betting companies are doing. The lower the percentage, the more money the consumers (bettors) are winning.
Based on research from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, in April of 2024, North Carolina sports betting reported a hold percentage of nearly 16%.
Post PASPA and before the boom of parlay and same-game-parlay (SGP) betting, online sportsbooks averaged a hold percentage of around 7%-8%. Since the rise of SGPs, that number has risen to 9%+, and anything approaching 10% is a boon to the gaming company.
A 16% hold is sky-high.
Interestingly, total handle was roughly the same for March and April of 2024. However, interest in betting in April, due to several factors, led to a better month for sportsbooks when they carried that hefty hold percentage of almost 16%.
With both professional and college football underway in September, the volume of bets (total handle) will increase tremendously. Since this will be North Carolina’s first football season with legal sports betting, that will also mean a boost in promo spending and a wide menu of football parlays.
All of this will very likely lead to a spike in hold percentage like we saw in April.
Why sportsbooks carried such high hold in April
Why did hold percentage rise so much in April in North Carolina? The most likely reasons were:
– March Madness betting.
– NC Sports Betting launch promo credits.
Men’s and Women’s March Madness betting carried on into April, with highly-anticipated games in both the men’s and women’s brackets. North Carolina’s college basketball fervor, along with the launch of online sports betting, led to high handle totals in those months.
While the NC Lottery does not report on bets by tape, neighboring Virginia does. Its data for the first half of the year showed parlay betting as the largest single bet type across all legal sportsbooks. We can expect that a similar breakdown occurred in North Carolina, especially during March Madness. That analysis aligns with industry reports that parlays and, more importantly, the number of legs in a parlay bet is rising.
These factors, put together, tilt the needle in the operators’ favor.
Moreover, North Carolinians still carried a pocketful of promo credits from the launch of online sports betting. And we all know how bettors tend to spend house money rather than their own.
Once March Madness ended and those promo credits dried up–and most did after April–hold percentage dipped back into the normal range.
Football season should boost hold percentage
This football season, customers could be teed up again. That’s because NC sportsbooks, like Fanatics Sportsbook NC are offering new football promos to Tar Heel customers.
Fanatics isn’t alone. ESPN Bet has also touted app upgrades in time for football season.
Along with another wave of promo spending, North Carolina bettors will begin receiving bespoke offers through their betting apps. These offers will lean heavily on parlays.
BetMGM Sportsbook NC‘s Lion’s Boost, for example, will give you a tailored odds boost for a specific game that can be enhanced further by adding it to a parlay or SGP.
These boosts, which tap into your specific rooting interests, can jack up the odds significantly, especially when linked up with a four- or five-leg parlay.
Operators aim to generate excitement from their parlay betting interfaces, which can be accessed easily across their apps. This is not just to enhance the user experience; fewer parlays are won than single bets on the money line or point spread.
For that reason, they’ve become the bread and butter of most major sportsbooks. In North Carolina, bettors can expect promo offers and more engaging parlay betting features as the football season heats up.
While it sounds very exciting, and it can be if approached responsibly, just keep in mind that the end goal for sportsbooks is profit.
With that reality in mind, you know what you’re getting into. Bet with a plan, and don’t get distracted.
Image Credit: Charles Krupa / AP Images
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