The state of Nevada used to be one of the only places to wager on sports in the United States, but that is no longer the case. There are now more than 30 states with legal sports betting of some kind, and some massive markets have emerged.
While Nevada has been forgotten a bit in terms of the top sports betting markets, that doesn’t mean that this form of entertainment hasn’t been popular in the state. For the second straight month, the state of Nevada was able to post a total revenue of more than $60 million.
One thing that is unique about the sports betting market in Nevada is that a majority of sports betting is still done in-person. In other states with this industry, more than 90% of the wagers each month are usually made online.
Sports betting throughout the country has really picked back up now that the NFL has returned and Nevada posted huge numbers in both September and October. Now that the October sports betting report is now available, here is a look at some of the key numbers that were reported.
Total sports betting revenue for the month was actually at $68.1 million, which is the third-highest revenue total on record in the state. That number also represents a 20% jump in revenue since October 2022, and it shows that this industry is still growing.
Sportsbooks held 8.4% of the wagers for the month of October, and that’s well above the national average of 7%. It’s actually the first time since the fall of PASPA that Nevada has had two straight months with a hold rate of more than the national average.
Total sports betting handle came in at $815.7 million in October, and that was actually a pretty sharp decline when looking at the year-over-year totals. Nevada sportsbooks are in the business of winning money though, and they can live with a decrease in total handle.
Football Leading the Way
It should come as no surprise that the return of football allowed the sportsbooks in the state to have a big month. While there were still some other sporting events taking place throughout the month, sports bettors were flocking to the sportsbooks and looking to bet on that sport.
Football accounted for over $48 million in revenue during the month of October, and sportsbooks won 8.8% of the wagers on that sport. Total sports betting handle on football came in at $545.9 million in October, and that was actually a drop from the October 2022 numbers.
Playoff baseball continues to be a popular sporting event as well, and that was another market that attracted plenty of bets during the month. The total revenue for the sport of baseball was close to $9.5 million, and that accounted for future bets that didn’t pay out after the World Series.
Nevada In Good Position
Not all of the states with sports betting have announced October sports betting totals, but Nevada is currently holding strong against other markets. Nevada has the fourth-highest sports betting handle total at this point, but Illinois will likely push it to fifth-place overall.
With a massive month of revenue during the month of October, Nevada is now just the fifth state in the post-PASPA ere to go over $2 billion in gross revenue. The numbers could actually be larger if this state was willing to make some changes to mobile sports betting rules.
