Nevada has become the fifth state in the post-PASPA era to sur $2 billion in sports wagering adjusted gross revenue, with the state’s Gaming Control Board reporting Thursday that operators claimed $68.1 million in winnings in October.
Nevada sportsbooks have claimed billions more since accepting their first bets back in 1975, but the state ed state-by-state sports betting revenue tracking.
The $68.1 million for October — with a hold close to 8.4% — is the third-highest total in state history, trailing only the September’s $62.3 million.
It marked the first time Nevada sportsbooks had back-to-back months with at least $60 million in revenue. It was also the first time the house had a collective win rate above the industry standard of 7% in consecutive months since September-October 2019. October’s hold was the sixth-highest in 65 months of wagering when including the two months during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic the NGCB did not release figures.
Handle totaled $815.7 million, down 11.5% from 12 months ago. It was also marked the second consecutive double-digit, year-over-year decline for October handle as the wagers accepted in October 2021 totaled $1.1 billion.
October’s dip in handle steepened the year-to-date decline in accepted wagers versus 2022 — the $6.5 billion worth of accepted bets is 5.7% lower compared to the first 10 months of last year. Revenue in that same period, however, is up almost 8% to $381.3 million.
The state received close to $4.6 million in taxes from sports wagering in October, lifting the year-to-date total to $25.7 million. That is almost $1.9 million ahead of last year’s pace through 10 months.
Football at the forefront as operators fare well 145v1w
Running Top 10 October #SportsBetting handle by state:
1 New York $2.02B
2 New Jersey $1.29B
3 Penn. $829M
4 NEVADA $815.7M
5 Mass. $571.8M
6 Michigan $551.1M
7 Maryland $483.1M
8 Tennessee $443.8M
9 Indiana $429.7M
10 Louisiana $308.6M#SportsBettingTwitter #GamblingTwitter— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) November 30, 2023
The bulk of Silver State sportsbook revenue came from football, which totaled $48.3 million while the house had a strong 8.8% win rate. It was the state’s fourth-highest monthly total for football operator winnings, which were up 44.7% compared to the previous October despite a 10.1% drop in handle to $545.9 million.
Baseball was a distant second in revenue, just shy of $9.5 million, but there were plenty of losing futures tickets as operators had a 10.5% hold — the highest of any month of October post-PASPA since attaining a 13.8% win rate in 2019. Wagering in baseball had a steeper year-over-year drop, plunging 21.1% from October 2022 to $90.5 million.
The catch-all “other” category, which in Nevada includes golf, tennis, soccer, boxing, mixed martial arts, and auto racing, showed revenue of $3.5 million. The hold on those wagers edged below 4% with $87.1 million worth of accepted wagers.
The start of the NBA season contributed to $3.1 million in basketball revenue, while hockey winnings totaled $2.2 million as the Vegas Golden Knights began defense of their Stanley Cup title. Hockey revenue more than doubled from the previous October, when it was only $888,000 as the 7.1% hold this year was 4.7 percentage points higher.
While parlay wagering is limited in Nevada, it did not prevent operators from routing the public for a second consecutive month. The eye-watering 41.1% hold resulted in the house keeping $1.5 million of the $3.6 million worth of multi-leg wagers placed.
House continues to hold sway on in-person bets 6z5uw
Revenue remained near a 50-50 balance for the year between betting done by online betting sites ed for more than 65% of the $6.5 billion wagered. Brick-and-mortar venues posted a robust 11.9% win rate in October as they claimed $33 million in revenue. It is the fourth time in the last 11 months retail books cleared $30 million in winnings, and they have ed for 49.7% ($189.5 million) of the overall sportsbook revenue.
Mobile sportsbooks had a 6.5% win rate on $536.9 million worth of accepted wagers, the second-highest monthly hold recorded since the NGCB began publishing monthly breakouts in 2020. The only other one higher was the 6.8% win rate crafted on $343.9 million handle in November 2020. The mobile win rate heading into the final two months of 2023, however, is only 4.5% on $4.25 billion handle.
