With March Madness beginning in a week, Arkansas is expected to see an uptick in sports betting revenue and possibly the biggest month on record.

Scott Hardin with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration says more than $50 million was wagered during March last year at the state’s three casinos in Pine Bluff, Hot Springs and West Memphis.

This year, Hardin says that number could exceed $70 million. Since sports betting became legal in Arkansas in 2018, more than $1.32 billion has been legally wagered at casinos in the state. 

In 2022, the Arkansas Racing Commission (which oversees the casinos in Arkansas) changed a rule, allowing the state’s casinos to accept sports wagers through a mobile app.

Sports wagers totaled $186 million during the first year of legal mobile sports betting in Arkansas. The number more than doubled in 2023 to $404 million and increased to $556 million in 2024.