Nevada in July became the second state to clear $1 billion in sports betting operator revenue in the post-PASPA era, as the state’s Gaming Control Board on Thursday reported revenue totaling nearly $33.3 million for the month.
New Jersey, which passed Nevada for all-time post-PASPA handle in April, also reached the $1 billion revenue benchmark that month. The good news for the Silver State was July’s revenue figure was a 14% month-over-month increase from June’s total of close to $29.2 million despite a 24.9% drop in handle to nearly $409.9 million.
The steep drop in handle is expected during the summer months with baseball as the primary — and sometimes only — wagering attraction for bettors. With 15 of the 20 states and jurisdictions with legalized sports betting having published their monthly reports, the combined July handle of $2.06 billion is 23.7% lower than June’s total of $2.7 billion.
Nevada sportsbooks posted a collective 8.12% win rate for July, their highest of 2021 in edging out January’s hold of 8.1%. Much of the improvement from June can be attributed to a reversal of fortune in baseball, plus Dustin Poirier’s first-round TKO via doctor stoppage of Colin McGregor, who could not continue after breaking his left leg.
The state collected nearly $2.25 million in tax receipts from sports betting in July, pushing the total to more than $16.2 million for the year.
A rawhide rebound on the Vegas strip
After bettors got the better of the house on baseball bets on the Las Vegas Strip in June, sportsbooks there rebounded in July. Though the win rate on the Strip was a modest 6.35%, it still resulted in more than $5.6 million in revenue from over $88.5 million wagered. It meant a swing of nearly $7.5 million in revenue on baseball wagers, after the public left more than $1.8 million richer on such bets the previous month.
Sportsbooks across the state fared even better than the Strip on baseball wagers, as the house collected just over $19 million — the highest monthly total of revenue from baseball bets in the post-PASPA era, which crushed the previous mark of $14.1 million set in April. Overall, the house posted an 8.35% win rate on $227.6 million worth of baseball wagers.
The third Poirier-McGregor fight fueled the catch-all “other” category to the second-highest handle and revenue totals for Nevada in July, at $95 million and nearly $9.1 million, respectively. Both numbers were also post-PASPA era monthly highs. Basketball was the other key driver for sports wagering last month, with the house keeping more than $5.8 million from nearly $77.3 million wagered.
Mobile bettors continue to fare better than retail
Since the NGCB began breaking out mobile wagering numbers in January 2020, the win rate for online operators has failed to reach the industry standard of 7% in any single month. That continued in July, though the 5.64% win rate was higher than the overall 2021 hold of 5.16%.
The mobile handle of nearly $242 million accounted for 59% of the month’s overall handle, and online bets have totaled more than $2.2 billion through the first seven months of the year.
Sportsbooks posted a far better performance on their turf, posting an 11.69% win rate on in-person bets while collecting more than $19.6 million from $167.9 million wagered. Retail revenue accounted for 59% of the total monthly haul, trailing only the Super Bowl-aided 67.9% in February for the year in terms of percentage.
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