With the February reporting in, Nevada has posted their third consecutive month where their hold is below the 5.78% average they have maintained since June of 2018. While the hold was down, their February 2022 handle beat the handle from February of 2021 by more than 40%.
Nevada sports betting revenue reports are in
The Nevada Gaming Control Board has released the February 2022 numbers for the state, showing off some interesting trends as well as some unsurprising ones. The biggest note is that for the third consecutive month, the state’s total hold came in under their average of 5.78%, in this case well below, as the books collectively held just 3.96% of their total handle. The state posted a strong month in November, holding 6.63%, but since then bettors have enjoyed more success and kept the hold below average.
While the hold was down, the handle was up significantly. Due to the lack of
football odds
to wager on, as expected the volume was down from the record-setting $1.109 billion books saw in January. The $780.8 million in February 2022 handle did however show a whopping 40.9% increase compared to February of 2021. In spite of the low percentage hold, the books collectively profited more than $30 million, and kicked in $2.1 million in taxes.
Savvy basketball bettors behind the low hold
With the Super Bowl the only football game available to bet on in February, basketball took center stage. While the $456.3 million waged on between NBA and college basketball made it the most popular sport among Nevada sports bettors, it also represented the lowest overall hold based on percentage. Books kept just 2.75% of bets on basketball, compared to a 6.11% hold on the $179.8 million waged on the Super Bowl and a 6.7% hold on the $59.5 million bet on hockey during the month.
As expected, parlay bets had the highest overall hold of any wager type with a large 28%, but with only $1.1 million in parlay bets, it wasn’t enough to offset the impressive skills of Nevada’s basketball bettors during the month. The remaining sports were lumped into the “other” category, which represented $81.1 million in total handle with a 4.2% hold for the books collectively.
Unlike many other states where mobile sports betting dominates, Nevada’s unique casino culture as well as their requirement for players to register in-person at a casino before placing mobile wagers has kept the mobile betting low. While other states see as much as 90% of the handle coming through
online sports betting
channels, in February Nevada’s mobile betting made up just 65.6% of the total handle. The popularity of retail sportsbooks in the state likely helped the state’s overall gaming industry to hit the $1 billion mark in profits for the twelfth month in a row, as the Nevada gaming industry as a whole raked in $1.113 billion in profits for the month. The industry has certainly recovered from the drastic downturn it experienced during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Projections looking strong for March
While February is traditionally one of the slower months for books in terms of overall handle, projections for March look quite strong. While football is the nation’s most popular sport to bet on, the March Madness tournament generates significant excitement among sports bettors as well as offering a large volume of games to wager on. With constant action leading up to the tourney, the slew of conference tournaments, and of course the massive weekends where all eyes on are the brackets, Nevada is likely to at least get close to if not surpass the billion dollar mark once again for the month of March.
While bettors were more successful than usual for the third month in a row, the sports betting industry is clearly doing just fine in Nevada. A month where more than $30 million in profits are generated being called a “bad” month is a great place for an industry to be. With a strong March Madness season in the rearview mirror and big betting projected to come for events like The Masters, MLB’s Opening Day, and the NBA and NHL playoff seasons, it’s a good time to be in the sports betting business. Stay up to date with the latest movements in the Nevada gambling scene with our
gambling news
here at PlayersBest!
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