LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Sports betting in Arkansas is on track to make more than a half billion dollars this year.
That's up from $404 million from what it was in 2023.
"Arkansans are averaging about $1.55 million a day on sports," said Scott Hardin, the Racing Commission Spokesperson.
That average is through our state's three casino apps.
Hardin explained how mobile betting has been the reason behind the increase from 400 million to at least 500 million in sports wagers.
In 2023, Arkansas collected about $5 million in taxes, and Hardin said that benefits the state in several different ways.
"The state gets a healthy portion of it. The city and county that are home to these casinos get a significant portion of that. And then lastly, there's a horse racing fund on the live purse. So the purses at Oaklawn actually increased as a result of the state revenue," he explained.
While we've been seeing success from mobile betting, Hardin emphasized that it's an extremely regulated industry.
"We want to be sure Arkansans understand the only way to place a legal sports wager in Arkansas, is at one of the state's casinos or through their apps. Any other option is not legal," he described.
Carlton Saffa with Saracen Casino echoed that same message and said that's part of the reason why Saracen wants to launch an "I-gaming" app and bring casino games straight to your phone, the legal way.
"We believe that allowing licensed, regulated casinos to engage in the same business will not really change anything, there will still be online gaming occurring, but the state will generate revenue," Saffa explained.
Sports betting is Saracen's second most important part of business and Saffa said he hopes to add casino games to phones sometime in the future.
"All that we would ask would be for the other properties that we offer slots and other forms of table games to be considered as an alternative to the illegal offshore sports books and casino operators that unfortunately are swarming our state," he said.
The decision to allow "I-gaming" is ultimately up to the racing commission and at this time, Saffa said Saracen is patiently waiting for when the commission is ready to have that conversation.