While the state of Nevada saw a dip in its sports betting handle for November, the books posted their highest win rate in more than three years, contributing to a record monthly revenue haul.
Sportsbooks in the Silver State generated a cumulative handle of $609.5 million for the month, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which was down 7.5% from October’s record handle of $659.2 million. That dip of nearly $50 million in handle, however, was rendered negligible as operators reported a win rate of 10.14%, the highest since posting an 11.28% win rate in August 2017.
The result was a windfall of $61.8 million in gross gaming revenue for operators, the best month in the post-PASPA era — which started in May 2018 after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down PASPA and legalized sports betting on a state-by-state basis. It topped the previous high GGR of $56.3 million established in September 2018. It was also an increase of 45.8% from October’s revenue total of nearly $42.4 million and nearly doubled the $31 million generated in November 2019 on $614 million in bets placed.
The state collected nearly $4.2 million in taxes off the $61.8 million in GGR, also a high-water mark since PASPA was struck down, and Nevada has accrued more than $50 million in taxes on sportsbook revenue dating back to June 2018.
Nevada’s monthly report also pushed the national cumulative sports betting handle in legal jurisdictions across the United States over the $35 billion mark since June 2018, when the first books went live in Delaware and New Jersey.
Football continues to dominate; operators win big on parlays
Money made by Nevada gaming operators last month:
One cent slots: $224.3 million
Sports Betting: $61.8 million
Blackjack: $58.1 million
Baccarat: $42 million
$1 slots: $36 million
Roulette: $14.2 million(Source: Nevada Gaming Control Board)
— Vegas Insiders (@vegas_insiders) December 29, 2020
The popularity of wagering on football continues to be a primary driver of higher handles over the past three months, and Nevada is no exception to the rule. Bettors placed nearly $502 million in wagers on the NFL and college football in November, and operators made a substantial portion of their revenue on those games.
The books collected just shy of $56 million in revenue, which accounted for more than 90% of the overall revenue total as they posted a win rate of 11.16% specific to the sport. Since September, sportsbooks across Nevada have accepted more than $1.16 billion in football bets, and the $99.27 million in revenue has accounted for 72.4% of the total sports betting revenue generated in that span.
Nevada operators hammered bettors for the third consecutive month when it came to parlays. After posting an impressive 39.89% win rate in October, the books dominated parlay cards during November in staggering fashion with a win rate of 55.59% on slightly less than $10.2 million wagered. Since September, sportsbooks have posted a 44.49% win rate on parlays, collecting $11.6 million on $26.1 million bet.
The $5.65 million in revenue from those victories in November more than canceled out payouts of nearly $4.35 million on baseball.
Mobile betting dips, contributes to shortfall vs. New Jersey
The mobile betting handle in Nevada was just shy of $344 million for November, which was down 8.7% from October’s high of $376.8 million. It accounted for 56.43% of the overall handle, which kept pace with numbers reported since the beginning of the year. Nevada has cleared $2 billion in mobile handle in 2020 and digital wagering has accounted for 56% of the overall money bet in the state this year — but the in-person registration required for mobile wagering remains a primary reason New Jersey has blown by the Silver State in terms of monthly handle of late.
New Jersey has reported a cumulative mobile handle just under $2.9 billion since August, and online wagering has accounted for a minimum of 90% of the overall handle in each of the last four months. That includes November’s national record of $931.6 million in handle, $872 million of which was generated online.
With November’s report Nevada has cleared $12 billion in cumulative handle since PASPA was struck down, while New Jersey is now at $10.85 billion and has outpaced the Silver State by $833 million over the last four months and more than $1.3 billion in 2020.
