Nevada Sports Betting Handle Rises While Profits Plummet
The Nevada Gaming Control Board released its August revenue report on Monday. It revealed mixed numbers for the Nevada sports betting scene, with a month-over-month and year-over-year increase in overall sports betting activity, but a healthy drop in revenues for the best sportsbooks from July.
Nevada sports betting apps and the best sports betting apps and retail sports betting providers in the state have failed to report a decent hold rate for months, dragging sportsbook profits down. Nevada sports betting providers have failed to hit a national industry average 7% hold for 11 straight months.
The good news is that August gave online betting sites an early end to the summer legal sports betting slump, just as it has in almost all jurisdictions that have reported so far. It appears just the thought of the NFL returning ensured August didn't represent the bottoming out of the Nevada sports betting scene, as it did in years past.
Nevada's August handle
Nevada sportsbooks reportedly took in $431.3 million in bets during August. That represents a welcome $23 million jump, or a 5.7% increase from the nearly $408.3 million generated in July. The handle is also a year-over-year 5.5% improvement from the $408.9 million reported in August 2022.
Nevada sports betting apps were responsible for a very encouraging 73.4% or $316.8 million of the overall legal sports betting activity in the Silver State during August. It's rare that mobile sports betting operators in Nevada eclipse the 70% mark. The last time the Nevada industry did so was in August 2022.
With the August figures included, Nevada sportsbooks have now taken in an astounding $34 billion since the 2018 Supreme Court decision to overturn the blanket ban on sports betting nationally.
Revenues a different story
Nevada sports betting providers have experienced an extended run of poor win rates, and that's dramatically affecting the bottom line. Sports bettors in the state are simply getting the better of providers.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board documented just $18.1 million in revenues for Nevada sports betting apps and retail providers in August. That number is a 28.4% month-over-month drop from the $25.26 million in July. It was the second time in three months that revenues for Nevada sportsbooks came in under the $20 million mark.
However, the August 2023 revenues represent a 12.7% increase from the unflattering $16.1 million in profits from August 2022.
Mobile sports betting providers were responsible for $13.2 million of the total $18.1 million reported in the Silver State.
Just $1.2 million in taxes was paid to Nevada state and local coffers, down from $1.7 million in July but up from nearly $1.1 million in August 2022.
More on the hold rate
The national industry standard hold rate for online sports betting providers is 7%. Nevada sportsbooks frequently report win rates much lower.
The Nevada sportsbook hold was just under 4.2% in August, which explains the poor revenue totals for Siver State legal sports betting providers. August 2022 featured a miserable 3.9% hold rate.
Bettors in the Silver State are apparently a savvy bunch.
Year-to-date numbers
Just like the August monthly legal sports betting figures, Nevada's year-to-date numbers for Silver State providers is a bit of a mixed bag.
The overall year-to-date handle after August sits at almost $4.9 billion, which is a 6.5% decrease from the same eight-month period in 2022. Revenues so far in 2022 stand at $250.9 million, which is an impressive 11.2% increase. The $16.9 million in tax revenue so far in 2023 is $1.7 million more than 2022 at this point.
The hold for Nevada sports betting providers so far in 2023? It's 5.2%, which is eight-tenths higher than the average rate for the first eight months of 2022.
