Silver State bettors feasted on football and sportsbooks took a bath for the first time in 12 years during a historic ending to 2024. The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported football cost online and retail books $2.1 million, the first monthly loss during the NFL regular season since falling $5.3 million short in Nov. 2012.
In December 2023, Nevada operators hauled in over $40 million in football revenue. The heavy loss came on a $16.7 million football handle, a 3.6% year-over-year increase.
Bettors also profited heavily from parlays, resulting in a $1.1 million operator loss. NFL favorites won over 75% of games outright and covered nearly 60% in December.
As a whole, operators finished with an incredibly low 1.8% win rate on an $821.2 million handle, a 2.6% year-over-year decrease. Sportsbooks generated $15 million in revenue, a 75% drop from Dec. 2023’s $44.1 million and way down from the 7% hold.
Rough ending
A December to forget comes off the heels of a nice November for sportsbooks, generating $67.5 million in revenue. Football produced $40.7 million of that haul.
However, that was a bounceback from a rough October, when the 3.6% hold was the lowest since 2022. Combined with December, the hold during football season's prime four months was 6%, down nearly a whole basis point from the same time period’s win rate in 2023.
In 2024, Nevada sportsbooks hauled in $482.2 million in revenue from a $7.9 billion handle, a 4.5% decrease from 2023’s amount wagered. The year’s average 6.2% hold is an improvement from 5.8% in 2023.
Other December figures
Online Nevada sports betting operators accounted for 69.8% of all December wagers and saw a 2% year-over-year increase in action with a $572.8 million handle. Mobile revenue reached $12.5 million.
Football wasn’t the only loser in December. Baseball payouts cost sportsbooks another $1.8 million. Basketball was the highest-winning sport for operators, creating $14.9 million in revenue. Hockey chipped in with $1 million of profit while “other” sports made operators $4.1 million.
