the 1st time but the numbers mean more than just that.
Recently, the American Gaming Association (AGA) took a moment to
recognize a new, important milestone.
In January, the six states that launched legal sports betting over the past
year accepted more bets combined than the state of Nevada for the
first time.
The January tally ended up with Nevada at $497.5 million. The six states
that have legalized sports betting since the federal ban was overturned in
May 2018 combined to hit $503.1 million.
THE SPORTS BETTING STATE NUMBERS
Add it up and Americans are now betting close to a whopping $1 billion
($998.8 million) a month at legal US sportsbooks. This rather impressive
number breaks down the following way:
- Nevada: $497.5 million
- New Jersey: $385.3 million
- Mississippi: $35.2 million
- Pennsylvania: $32.0 million
- Rhode Island: $19.1 million
- West Virginia: $17.8 million
- Delaware: $11.9 million
- Total: $998.8 million
AGA Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Sara Slane made
a few bold-sounding proclamations surrounding the figures:
“For the first time in the history of US gaming, Nevada’s
sports betting handle has been eclipsed by the rest of
the country. The demand for legal sports betting is
abundantly clear, with the majority of legal wagers now
being placed in markets that didn’t even exist a year ago.
What’s more, this strong consumer appetite for legal
sports betting is matched by action from state legislatures
and sovereign tribal nations. Two thirds of jurisdictions have
now taken steps to legalize sports betting, marking an
unprecedented amount of growth for this new sector in just
ten months.”
However, the AGA seems to be ignoring a couple of interesting storylines
that can be extrapolated from the January numbers.
TIMES ARE CHANGING FOR SPORTS BETTING STATES
The first is that it’s about time sportsbooks around the rest of the
country took in more bets than Nevada. After all, the six states in
question have a combined population of approximately 28 million
compared to Nevada’s sparse 3 million.
Of course, legal sports betting is still new in all these states. But by
the time the markets mature, both New Jersey and Pennsylvania
should probably both be bringing in more bets than Nevada on their
own.
In fact, the head start New Jersey has had on the others may have
it supplanting Nevada as the top sports betting state in the US as
soon as the weekend of the Final Four. After all, even the AGA
will tell you March Madness has surpassed the Super Bowl as the
largest betting event in the country.
NEVADA SPORTSBOOKS ARE STILL BREAKING RECORDS
That said, the second and perhaps even more interesting storyline
the AGA missed here is that the $497.5 million in handle Nevada
sportsbooks posted was actually an all-time high for that month.
The thought was the spread of legal sports betting across the US
would ultimately hurt Nevada sportsbooks. Surely fewer people
would be traveling to the Silver State to place a bet. In the first year
of legal sports betting outside Nevada, these claims are simply not
holding true.
Nevada sportsbook revenue actually dropped more than 40 percent
from January 2018. This was due to savvy betting, too many NBA
favorites winning, and punters cashing in old MLB bets.
However, the record handle numbers suggest two things, the first
being that sports betting is alive and well in Nevada. The second
is that the action in emerging legal markets is entirely new. Or at
least it’s not moving from Nevada to these other states.
Really, this is more of an “everyone wins” scenario rather than about
a head-to-head battle — one state or another doesn’t necessarily
“take away” revenue from another, but rather more people are actually
physically betting than ever before. The sheer volume and numbers
are higher all around, so everyone gets a piece of the pie.
This all adds up to legal sports betting being an already big and
quickly-growing US industry.
A fact lawmakers now considering some of the approximately
120 sports betting bills on file across the US may want to consider.
That’s in addition to what the AGA is taking the time to point out of
course.
THE MOST IMPORTANT DETAIL OF THE NEW STATE SPORTS BETTING MILESTONE
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
The six other states with legal sports betting accepted more bets than Nevada for
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Originally Posted by Sam Odom
