Nevada sports betting revenue takes December nosedive

Nevada sportsbooks saw a busy December as the betting handle stayed above the $1 billion mark for the third consecutive month.

The overall handle posted by licensees across the state in December was $1.014 billion, indicating a slight drop of 6.5% from the $1.086 billion booked in the previous month. However, the figure was up by a massive 72.5% year-on-year when compared to the $588.5 million handled in December 2020.

Of the total amount spent by bettors in the month, 75.4% or $765 million came in via online and mobile sportsbooks, a decrease of 1.6% from the $777.2 million reported in November. Compared to the $352.2 million posted in December 2020, however, the internet handle was up by $117.2% year-on-year.

NV sportsbook revenue takes massive hit

Despite Nevada bettors keeping sportsbooks on their feet throughout December, the revenue for the month took a massive dip as operators held a paltry 1.6% of the total amount staked.

According to the report, licensees across the state won a combined $16.0 million for the month, a decline of 77.8% from the record $72.0 million generated in November. The figure was also 60.7% lower than December 2020’s hold of $40.6 million.

The hardest-hit sector was the online industry as the revenue generated by mobile sportsbooks during the month tallied $2.6 million. The figure, which translates to 0.34% in hold percentage, was a decrease of 92.6% from the $35.0 million reported in November.

About $1.6 million of the operators’ hold for the month went to the state in taxes.

Football betting still king in Nevada

As expected, football betting accounted for the lion’s share of Nevada’s handle for December as bettors wagered $477.1 million on the sport during the month. Operators won $16.9 million of the bets, which translates to a win rate of $3.6%.

The amount staked on basketball also topped $400 million, making it the second-most popular sport by handle. Basketball betting generated $408.7 million in bets during the month, but the books only retained 0.7% of this amount or $2.9 million.

Hockey betting came in third with just $66.6 million in handle, but the revenue generated by the sport was $606,000 in the red. Sportsbooks also made losses on baseball (-$1.3 million), parlays (-$1.9 million), and other sports (-$57,000).

Yearly handle and revenue hit record high despite December setback

The figures for December bring the total amount staked by bettors in the Silver State throughout 2021 to $8.1 billion, making it the second-largest market nationally after New Jersey. The Garden State’s year-to-date (YTD) sports betting handle for 2021 was $10.9 billion. New Jersey and Nevada are also the only states with over $20 billion in overall sports betting handle post-PASPA.

When it comes to revenue, the market generated $445.1 million in revenue for operators for 2021, while the amount paid to the state in taxes amounted to $30 million.

These figures are a new record for Nevada, eclipsing the previous record of $5.3 billion YTD handle and $329.1 million in yearly revenue achieved in 2019.