Nevada Sports Betting Handle, Revenue Dips Slightly in February

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) reported a slight decrease in monthly sports wagering handle in the state with wagers of $712.3 million in February, down by $70 million from a strong start to the year in January. Revenue for February came in at $47.9 million, which is down 27% from January but also indicated impressive year-on-year growth with a 16% increment from February last year.

In terms of hold, sports betting operators managed to retain 6.7% of the handle. Overall, the state of Nevada collected $3.2 million in tax in February. In a rapid start to the new year, Nevada has managed $7.6 million in the first two months, which is up 22.8% from last year’s tax receipts from the first two months of the year.

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Super Bowl Held in Vegas Improves Hold

Nevada registered a record-breaking $185.6 million in betting handle on the Super Bowl, with a hold of 3.7%. The total gross gaming revenue (GGR) from the Super Bowl was $6.8 million, in which the Kansas City Chiefs narrowly beat the San Francisco 49ers, 25-22.

“The Nevada Gaming Control Board congratulates and thanks all the stakeholders involved for successfully delivering such a spectacular event from the state of Nevada,” NGCB Chairman Kirk Hendrick said in a release on February 12.

In 2023, Nevada recorded $153.1 million in wagers on the Super Bowl, with a smaller hold of 2.8% and gaming revenue of 4.3 million. These figures were down from 2022, in which the Silver State managed $179.8 million in handle with revenue of $11 million and a hold of 6.2%. Gaming revenue across 2023 and 2024 combined to narrowly beat 2022’s Super Bowl profit in Nevada.

According to a statement released by the NGCB: “The State collected $70,482,911 in percentage fees during the month of March 2024*, based upon the taxable revenues generated in February 2024. This represents a 9.54% (or $7,433,608) decrease compared to the prior year’s March, when percentage fee collections were $77,916,519.”

Football, Basketball Contribute Heavily To House Win

Total operator winnings from football in February was $12 million, significantly higher than last year (a 27.2% year-on-year increase). In total, Nevada collected $190 million in wagers on football.

Basketball dominated sports wagering as well as revenue in February in Nevada. The house managed to retain 6.4% as hold of the total $388.1 million that was wagered on basketball. In total, basketball accounted for $24.7 million in revenue, which was more than half of the total profit in February.

The “Others” category accounted for $7.7 million in gaming revenue, which represented a hold rate of 8.6% on total sports wagers of $89.6 million. Ice hockey was another profitable section for operators, with a hold of 10.4%. Operators generated $4.3 million in revenue on a total betting handle of $41.8 million.

Retail Revenue, Overall Gaming Revenue up

Nevada generated $288.3 million in handle at retail locations, which increased by 5.2% from January. That was also a 12.2% increase from February last year. That represented a hold rate of 8.4% with total revenue collection of $24.2 million.

According to the statement released by the NGCB, “Nevada’s nonrestricted gaming licensees reported a total “gaming win” of $1,342,192,407 for the month of February 2024. This amounts to an 8.50% increase compared to February 2023, when licensees reported a gaming win of $1,237,048,360. For the fiscal year (July 1, 2023 through February 29, 2024), gaming win has increased 5.23%.”

February Historically Represents a Dip

Sports betting has existed for a lot longer in Nevada, which indicates that there is a larger sample size of data to analyze trends. One of those patterns is a dip in revenue and handle in February when compared to the preceding month.

In 2023, January’s handle in Nevada was $935.8 million but fell sharply to $659 million in February before picking back up again to $829 million in March. In 2022, the Silver State collected $1.1 billion in wagers in January before falling to $781 million in February and moving up again to $863 million in March.

This pattern was visible in the numbers from 2019, 2020, and 2021, too. Last month’s dip in revenue and handle is not an anomaly in Nevada. If this trend is reliable, revenue and handle should shoot back up in March even though the drop in February was not a sharp decline, like in 2023.

READ MORE: 

• Nevada Sports Betting Handle Mostly Steady With Some Dips in November
• Nevada Sports Betting Handle Records 12.9% Increase in November
• US Sports Betting Revenue Tracker