Nevada Posts Massive Annual Increase in July Sports Betting Revenue

Nevada, America’s gambling and sports betting capital, is having one heck of a “dead season,” with a reported 55.7% annual increase on July betting totals.

The huge spike came as the state generated $25.3 million in revenue in July, a massive increase on the $9.5 million in June. That’s despite major sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA and NHL enjoying their respective offseasons and leaving sports bettors with few choices for mainstream events.

The Silver State also claimed its strongest hold in two years (6.2%), including a 7.4% hold on baseball betting, which greatly helped legal sportsbooks with their bottom line.

All revenues and amounts come courtesy of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which recently published the state’s totals after a successful month of betting.

The swollen revenue amount was not only over twice as much as what was claimed in June, but it came in spite of a 2.7% year-to-year decrease in the betting handle. With the growing popularity of sports betting, states across the country usually report year-to-year increases in gambling figures across the board, but that was not the case here.

The July hold was also over 2% greater than what was produced in June, which again signifies a strong month for the sportsbooks, even amid the waning interest from sports bettors.

Nevada was able to claim $1.7 million in taxes from the sportsbooks’ revenues. That brought the state to over $15 million in tax funding since the start of 2023.

As is the case across the country, online sports betting via web and mobile apps was a catalyst for the state’s gambling market. Those online books were responsible for $268,1 million, or 65.7%, of the betting handle, but again, the total handle was down 2% compared to the 2022 amount.

Sports betting has been legal in Nevada since 1949, so the new fad and sweeping revolution does not have the same allure to locals, which could be responsible for the failure to grow year-to-year. That said, it is still the “dead season,” and sportsbooks will be as busy as ever when the NFL returns in less than a week.

The sports betting ecosystem in Nevada has undergone and will continue to deal with change in the near future.

Las Vegas, the crown jewel of the gambling world, has added several sports teams recently, including the Las Vegas Raiders, Las Vegas Aces, and Las Vegas Golden Knights. It will also be home to the Oakland Athletics starting in 2028.

Vegas also welcomed March Madness back earlier this year for the first time in decades. The NCAA had a rule that stipulated that championship events could not be held in states with legal sports betting markets, but that went by the wayside amid the national trend in sports betting acceptance.

The next major event on tap for the famed city is the NBA in-season tournament, which will be making its debut this season in an attempt to add more character to the early months of the regular-season schedule. Shortly after, F1 will come to the city for the first time for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a major event that has packages ranging from tens of thousands to millions of dollars.

To top it off, the Super Bowl will be held at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas in February 2024. All of these events are sure to generate interest from sports bettors and contribute to potential record-setting months and years for local sportsbooks.