It took nine months, but Nevada sportsbooks finally inflicted some pain on the sports betting public in 2022.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Thursday reported $70.6 million in adjusted sportsbook revenue for September, marking just the second time in the post-PASPA era the Silver State eclipsed $70 million. The only time it reached a higher number was last November when it totaled just shy of $72 million.
While the statewide hold of 9.3% is currently the lowest of 20 states to report handle and revenue figures for September, it was easily the highest of the calendar year in Nevada. September’s win rate snapped a nine-month run dating to last December in which bettors held the house under a 5% hold, and it marked only the fourth time in 53 months of the post-PASPA era that it eclipsed 9%. It was the highest hold since the all-time high of 10.1% notched in November 2020.
Handle surged as expected with the start of professional and college football, reaching $761.1 million. That figure — 86.2% higher than the $408.9 million in accepted wagers in August — represented a 3.3% drop compared to the $786.7 million handle generated for the same month in 2021. Overall, however, 2022 handle is running 20.7% higher compared to 2021, moving within $32 million of $6 billion for the year.
The strong month by the house helped close the year-over-year gap in revenue, which now stands 4.1% behind 2021 at $296.3 million. The state reaped close to $4.8 million in tax revenue last month and Nevada became the fifth state to surpass $100 million post-PASPA, joining New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
A $50 million milestone in football
September #SportsBetting numbers for #Nevada via NGCB, a 🧵. 9/22 vs 8/22; vs 9/21
Handle: ⬆️86.2%; ⬇️3.3%
Revenue: ⬆️339.6%; ⬆️30.3%
WR: ⬆️5.35 pts; ⬆️2.39
Taxes: ⬆️$3,682,935; ⬆️$1,108,755
6/x #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) October 27, 2022
While the NGCB does not break out pro versus college football handle and revenue, the $51.7 million kept by operators from all pigskin wagering marked only the third time post-PASPA the figure topped $50 million. The only totals higher were the $56 million in November 2020 and $53.1 million last November.
The 10.7% hold is the highest for in-season football wagering since the 11.2% mark attained in November 2020. The $481.7 million wagered on pro and college football was up 0.8% compared to September of last year.
Baseball was the other big revenue generator for September, with operators keeping more than $12.5 million from $192.8 million wagered. The 6.5% hold was the second best for 2022, trailing only the 6.6% mark from July, but handle dipped 11.1% compared to the same month in 2021 and 28.6% versus August.
The catch-all “other” category, which includes golf, soccer, and mixed martial arts, generated nearly $5 million in revenue from $71.8 million handle. While parlay wagering is nowhere near as prevalent in Nevada as the rest of the country, operators still picked up a nice chunk of change — nearly $3.2 million came from more than $6.6 million wagered, resulting in a hefty 47.6% hold.
The brick-and-mortar books wallop the public
September #SportsBetting numbers, national note: Top 5 all-time monthly gross revenue totals, post-PASPA:
1 Nov. 2021 – $723.33M
2 SEP. 2022 – $676.45M <–UPDATED
3 Jan. 2022 – $648.93M
4 May 2022 – $608.53M
5 Mar. 2022 – $603.01M#GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) October 27, 2022
The return of football brought a surge of in-person wagering, as the $269.1 million handle from it represented slightly more than 35% of the overall handle. Retail sportsbooks made the most of that increased presence, hanging a 15.9% hold on the public to collect close to $42.9 million in revenue in September.
That was the highest monthly retail win rate recorded since the NGCB began breaking out retail and mobile revenue numbers in January 2020, and it was the ninth time it surpassed 10% in that span. The revenue haul was also an all-time high since the two categories were separated in the monthly reports.
Though the monthly mobile hold has never reached the industry standard of 7% since the NGCB began breaking out mobile and retail revenue numbers in January 2020, the 5.6% win rate on close to $492 million in wagers was a 2022 best and the highest since narrowly clearing 6% in April 2021.
Overall revenue since January 2020 topped $1 billion with September’s report, with brick-and-mortar locations accounting for more than 55% of the total despite accounting for only 36% of the handle.
Photo: Shutterstock
