The Nevada sports betting industry handled $575,069,930 in wagers last month, according to figures released Wednesday from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The handle was a 5.2% increase from $546,358,867 in September 2019.
On the revenue side, it was not the best month for the books. They collectively won $32,894,000, a decline of more than 36% compared to the $52,068,000 won during the same month last year. Still, the 5.72% win percentage from last month is in line with historical results. September 2019 had a hold of more than 9%, far above the annual average.
Nevada is firmly the nation’s No. 2 sports betting market, trailing only New Jersey.
The Garden State reported $748,588,349 in wagers last month, the largest handle ever seen by a state for a single month. New Jersey’s handle grew a whopping 68% year-over-year from $445,563,503 in September 2019, due in large part to its robust online/mobile options.
In Nevada, sports bettors must register for a mobile betting account in person at a casino, while in New Jersey bettors can do so remotely. This feature of the Nevada sports betting industry is widely considered to be holding back its growth at a time when sports betting continues to go more mainstream.
The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized a sports betting market’s need for online/mobile wagering and remote registration.
Nevada mobile handle
The NGCB earlier this year started releasing data on how much of the handle came over mobile devices.
The online/mobile platforms handled $315,472,779 last month, which was 54.8% of the total. That percentage has been falling in recent months: The online/mobile handle was 79.2% in June, 69.1% in July, and 64.3% in August.
Nevada casinos have slowly been resuming their normal operations after shutting down completely earlier this year due to the pandemic. The first casinos reopened in June.
The mobile share could trek back up as COVID-19 makes a resurgence across the country.
Wacky sports schedule skews some numbers
The pandemic moved NBA basketball back into the month of September, causing a massive increase in the sport’s handle. Football saw a noticeable dip, due to the impact COVID-19 had on the NCAA version of the game. The NFL has played out like it normally does.
Below is a look at handle by sport with a year-over-year change. In September 2019, the NGCB did not release data on hockey. Hockey was part of the “other” category back then.
| Sport | 2020 handle | 2019 handle | Y-o-Y change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Football | $221,871,101 | $377,468,599 | -41.2% |
| Basketball | $114,798,761 | $3,984,272 | 2,781.3% |
| Baseball | $147,279,305 | $122,427,652 | 20.3% |
| Parlay | $5,798,411 | $11,716,691 | -50.5% |
| Hockey | $25,022,113 | N/A | N/A |
| Other | $60,374,331 | $30,596,491 | 97.3% |
