A heavy dose of NFL favorites covering spreads in October caught up to Nevada, like it did much of the rest of the U.S.
Sports betting operators in the Silver State watched revenue decline 57.5% year-over-year due to bettors’ success in the most popular wagering sport.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported $28.9 million in sports betting revenue from an October handle of $795 million, down 2.5% compared to the same month last year.
Football revenue of $9.7 million fell off by an astounding 79.2% compared to October 2023 as a multi-week run of customer-friendly NFL outcomes ravaged operators. This also put a huge damper on parlays for Nevada sportsbooks, which suffered a 109.7% decrease in multi-leg bet revenue.
The 3.6% hold marked the lowest since the 2% mark met in June 2023. The win rate in October also fell nearly five points year-over-year.
Giveth and taketh
The October struggles for Nevada sportsbooks came a month after $80.9 million in revenue was produced in September, a new record in Nevada sports betting.
Statewide wagering fell 4% from the previous month but the year-to-date handle did surpass $6 billion.
Online sports betting accounted for $519.9 million, or 65.4%, of October's total handle. That was down 3.2% year-over-year while revenue of $18.8 million fell 46.4% from October 2023.
The Silver State filled its coffers with a little under $2 million, down from September’s massive tax-rate haul of $5.5 million from sports betting.
Nevada’s entire gaming win was down 2.2% year-over-year.
Basketball shines
Nevada operators did enjoy some profitable sports in October. Basketball revenue of $7.2 million was up 125% year-over-year in the NBA's first month.
Hockey’s haul was up 8.4% from October 2023 while “other” sports – which include soccer, golf, tennis, MMA, boxing, and auto racing – reached $5.6 million, a 62.1% rise year-over-year.
Baseball revenue, however, didn’t flourish, despite a New York Yankees-Los Angeles Dodgers World Series. The sport’s revenue of $4.4 million was down 54.1% from the previous October.
