The Nevada Gaming Commission reported just over $25 million in sports betting revenue for August on Thursday, a notable year-over-year increase for Silver State operators.
The figure was up 38.2% from 2023, easily outpacing the 5.8% rise in handle to $455.8 million. Revenue declined 3% from July despite a 21.3% upswing in handle as the 5.5% hold was nearly 1.4 percentage points lower.
In the last month leading into football season, wagering has been down slightly at Nevada's sportsbooks. The $4.68 billion handle is down 3.9% compared to the first eight months of last year. The $289.9 million in revenue, however, is up 15.5% as the 6.2% hold for 2024 is close to 1.1 percentage points higher.
The state saw an inflow of $1.7 million into its tax coffers for August, lifting the year-to-date total to $19.6 million. That is $2.6 million ahead of last year's pace.
House Makes Gains in Football and the "Others"
Running Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state for August:
1 NY $1.44B
2 NJ $698.8M
3 PA $485.3M
4 NEVADA $455.8M <-NEW
5 MA $447.3M
6 MD $377.4M
7 NC $370.5M
8 TN $342M
9 IN $307.9M
10 MI $289.7M#SportsBettingX#GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 26, 2024
The introduction of Week 0 in college football in recent years, plus the usual business of bettors placing NFL futures wagers in August, has lifted football's profile in Nevada for summer wagering. Operators collected more than $8.7 million in revenue from pigskin wagers, which was up 72.9% from last year. The $84.6 million handle was up 62.2% from the previous August while also bettering the month's record of $72.3 million from 2019 in the post-PASPA era.
Sportsbooks also saw a notable jump in winnings from the catch-all "others" category, which includes golf, tennis, soccer, boxing, MMA and auto racing in Nevada. The $7.6 million haul represented a 64% increase from 12 months prior as handle surged 24.4% to $112.3 million.
Those secondary sports have provided a notable boost to the bottom line so far in 2024. Revenue from those wagers is up 27.4% to $60.4 million, slightly outpacing the 26.5% increase in handle to $795.8 million.
That has helped offset a downturn in baseball wagering. While August revenue ticked 1.8% higher to more than $9.7 million, action from April to August has lagged versus 2023. The $1.14 billion handle in that four-month span is down 15.4% year-over-year, while the $61.5 million in sportsbook winnings is 10.1% lower.
Operators also reported six-figure, off-season losses in basketball ($630,000) and hockey ($559,000) paying out winning futures tickets from the previous season.
Mobile Bettors Beat Summer Heat
Though mobile sportsbooks claimed $14.8 million in revenue, their 4.7% hold on $313 million worth of wagers represented a low for 2024. Digital wagering has accounted for 61.4% of total sportsbook revenue through the first eight months of 2024, which is tracking to be the highest percentage since the NGCB began publishing mobile figures in 2020.
Their retail counterparts fashioned a 7.1% win rate in August, posting $10.2 million in revenue from $142.8 million worth of wagers. The two verticals have had far different levels of success compared to last year — the 5.8% hold for mobile sportsbooks is 1.4 percentage points better than the 4.4% attained for all of 2023, while the 6.9% win rate for retail ticket-takers is down 1.6 percentage points versus last year.
