Recapping the May Sports Betting Numbers from Nevada and Colorado

It took a while for a couple of the elite sports betting states in the American market to release their May sports betting revenue totals. Summer revenue figures are expected to decline rapidly thanks to the lack of any marquee events on the sports betting calendar. But recently released reports from both Nevada and Colorado show moderate single-digit drops for those jurisdictions. In fact, both states have come in below the average 10.8% sports betting drop-off reported across 20 other legal sports betting states in May.

Do May's revelations signal a lesser summer sports betting drop-off than in previous years or does May's dip signal a year-long stabilization of the gambling industry across America. Let's try to answer those questions and take a peek at some other long-overdue figures, this time from Arizona's sports betting scene.

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Nevada's May Numbers

Nevada is a unique position in comparison to other legal sports betting states. Their economy relies almost solely on a tourism sector that is seeing a markable post-COVID bump.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board is reporting a $562 million handle for May, which is just a 3.5% decrease from the $582.5 million in April. While slightly concerning, the May 2022 handle is 17.8% higher than the same period last year.

Month-over-month revenues remained relatively static, Sportsbook profits in the state climbed just over $1.5 million to $26,999,000 in May. That is a 6.4% increase from the $25.4 million in April.

Perhaps the biggest news out of the Nevada May handle report is the strength of the state's mobile sports betting platform. 67.7% of the overall handle, and 60.7% of revenues came from Nevada's mobile sports betting providers. For months, and even years, Nevada’s mobile scene was responsible for between 55%-60% of the state’s total monthly handle.

Baseball carried the way for Nevada sportsbooks in May, accounting for $245 million of the overall $562 million handle. Basketball, which played its Final Game in May contributed $178.4 million

Overall monthly revenue for Nevada's gaming industry posted its second-biggest monthly total of 2022 in May, which speaks to the increase in traffic at Las Vegas and Reno casinos.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported $1.3 billion in overall gaming revenues in May, a 15.2% month-over-month increase from April and just under the $1.36 billion that came into the state's gaming providers during their 2022-best month of March.

What about Colorado?

Colorado, another one of the Top-10 sports betting states in America also saw a slight drop in wagering activity from April to May. Like Nevada, their month-over-month sports betting drop was under the 10.8% average seen across America and came in at 8.2%.

$360.3 million flowed into Colorado sportsbooks in May, nearly $32 million less than April's $392 million. Year-over-year, Colorado's sports betting handle climbed 32.6%, from the $249 million wagered in May 2021.

Shockingly, the Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup run only contributed $35.7 million to the state's overall handle. That said, hockey betting numbers were the highest recorded for any month ever in Colorado. NBA playoffs led the way, contributing about $100 million with baseball betting accounting for about $90 million.

Revenues for Colorado’s legal sports betting scene saw an actual month-over-month increase. Sportsbooks in the state made $27,119,329 in May, a nice $4.5 million increase from the $22,571,887 in profits in April. The increase was partially due to a 7.5% hold in May, compared to the 5.8% hold in April.

Of note, May's sports betting handle took Colorado’s industry over the $7 billion mark. All told, Colorado's legal sports betting providers have taken in $7.3 billion since the platform went live in May 2020.

Colorado joins New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Indiana as the only states to accomplish that goal.

And Finally, April in Arizona

Arizona, one of the more anticipated markets that have opened up in the last year, has been slow to report their monthly numbers. This week saw Arizona’s Department of Gaming finally released their April numbers – most states already have their May figures for us to chew on!

The state’s sportsbooks took in $512.9 million in April, which is a notable 25.8% month-over-month drop from the record $691 million in March – the NCAA Basketball tournament was huge in Arizona. $29.2 million in gross revenues was reported in the state for April, thanks to a 5.7% hold. It is a 21.4% drop from the revenue total from March.

At the end of the day, Arizona's legal sports betting scene finished sixth in the nation in April behind New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Nevada, and Pennsylvania - pretty impressive. The $500 million+ handle represents the third time in the four months of 2022 that Arizona eclipsed that mark.

Arizona ‘s sports betting providers also surpassed the $4 billion mark since inception with their April sports betting figures. Arizona is the 11th state to reach that milestone.

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