Record-Breaking Amount of Sports Wagers in March in Nevada With Basketball Dominating the Handle

Nevada Gambling Commission has revealed that March’s sports betting handle in this state was at its highest yet, with $596.8 million in wagers taken in total. This is a new record, set only a month after the previous one.

Basketball was the most popular sport with punters in Nevada, which amounted to 83% of total stakes wagered ($495.5 million) – this is chiefly due to the NCAA collegiate basketball tournament, the so-called March Madness, taking place.

The percentage of hold for basketball was 7.10% and it generated $35.2 million in revenue. Last year’s handle was $436.6 million.

Profits Unexpectedly Declined

Looking at the big picture, the total amount of wagers (for all sports, not just basketball) was 14.4% larger than during the same month last year (win percentage was 5.45%)…

…but, in spite of this, the overall revenue took a bit of a tumble: year-on-year, it suffered a -4.8% blow and month-on-month, it was down 9.2%. This is because sportsbooks in Nevada lost $12.2 million on football betting.

Coming in second place behind basketball was baseball, which amassed a revenue of $3.5 million from $31.3 million in wagers (annual rise of 63.4% and with a hold of 11.05%). Biggest losers were parlay cards, whose revenue spiraled down an incredible 65.3% to just $223,000 from $1.1 million in stakes.

Another $5.8 million in revenue was sourced from pari-mutuel betting.

Overall Gambling Revenue Falters Ever So Slightly

Regulated gambling market in this Western state experienced a slight decrease in monthly revenue, down only 0.1% from February, to $1.02 billion.

Slot revenue made a positive impact with an increase of 5% to $675.3 million, but was overshadowed by 8.8% fall in table, counter and card games segment to $347.7 million.

Baccarat was another heavy loser with a 54.3% decline in revenue, to just $53.6 million overall.

Racebooks in Nevada managed to generate a $3.7 million revenue from a 16.55% hold and $22.6 million in handle.

The region that managed to earn the most in March was Clark County (where Las Vegas is): it collected $882.8 million, which is a 0.6% decline. Las Vegas Strip contributed to this with $551.9 million, while downtown Vegas added another $58.7 million to the pile.

Nevada Gets a New Face in Charge of Responsibility

At the beginning of March, former MGM Resorts International executive, Alan Feldman, was named the new chairman of Nevada’s Advisory Committee on Problem Gambling.

Feldman will be focusing his efforts on raising awareness on gambling-related issues, providing education, treatments and conducting research on related matters.

In the month prior, William Hill announced the broadening of its presence in this state by inking a sportsbook and racetrack deal with Golden Entertainment. The operator’s CEO, Joe Asher, called this agreement an “exciting new chapter in their relationship with Golden Entertainment, as they look forward to working together.”

Source:

“Nevada sets new sportsbook handle record in March”, igamingbusiness.com, April 26, 2019.