Nevada Becomes Second State to Clear $1B in Sports Betting Revenue

Nevada became the second state in July to clear $1 billion in total sports betting revenue in the post-PASPA era, months after New Jersey reached the benchmark.

According to the numbers released Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state’s sportsbooks handled $409.7 million in July, down 24.9% from June’s $545.3 million. However, last month’s handle represented a 150.5% increase from July 2020, when the Silver State’s sportsbooks accumulated $163.5 million amid the pandemic-led restrictions.

In April, New Jersey had eclipsed Nevada to lead all-time post-PASPA sports betting handle and reached the $1 billion sports betting revenue the same month.

Revenue Fared Better than Most Other States

Nevada sports betting followed a nationwide trend of shrinking handles amid the peak of the summer slump – the typical months with low sporting events from April to August.

Despite July’s handle nosedived, Nevada sportsbooks did far better than most other states in terms of revenue, which rose 14% to $33.3 million, thanks largely to a decent hold rate of 8.12%. In June, the sports betting revenue was $29.18 million.

So far, nearly 14 states with legal sports betting have reported July numbers. The average handle decrease across those states has been 23%, while revenue shrank around 25%.

The state government generated nearly $2.25 million in taxes, levying at a 6.75% tax rate.

Baseball Defined The Trend

Baseball betting led among Nevada bettors, who wagered $227.6 million – or 55% of all bets – on the sport last month.

NBA betting numbers declined as the NBA Finals concluded in June. As a result, basketball betting shrank to $77.2 million, nosediving from $193.9 million a month prior.

The “other” category saw a handle of $94.99 million, while Hockey posted a handle of $8.7 million.

Football betting rose to $948,317 last month from $566,626 in June. But the NFL will be taking over the US sports betting for the rest of the year as the preseason is underway, and with the regular season kicking off in less than two weeks from now.

Mobile Betting Shrinks Amid Increased Tourism

Nevada online sports betting totaled $242 million in July – or 59% of the total handle – representing a 23% decline from the $314.3 million in June. However, it was a 114.3% gain in the year-over-year comparison as July 2020 had brought in $112.9 million.

In June, the Silver State’s mobile handle was 58% – the first month the tourists began to return to the only gambling hub of the nation before 2018.

The return of tourism in Nevada appears to have a direct effect on mobile betting, which accounted for 62.4% of the handle in May, and 65.3% in April.

Silver State trails many leading sports betting states – including New Jersey – which draw over 90% of mobile handle each month. New Jersey had posted $529.4 million in sports betting handle for the same period, of which 91.5% came through mobile sports betting.

Meanwhile, physical sportsbooks saw an improved performance, witnessing an 11.69% win rate on in-person wagers while generating over $19.6 million from the $167.9 retail betting handle.

Retail sports betting revenue drew 59% of the total monthly figure in July, which was the second-best in terms of percentage since February’s 67.9%.