Sports betting handles across the country noticed substantial dips in the average betting volume as the industry turns to the summer months. Nevada also witnessed similar results to many other jurisdictions for April.
How did the Monthly Sports Betting Handle React
Sportsbook operators in the Silver State brought in a total of $582.5 million which noted a significant drop of 32.5 percent. Even though mobile is readily available in Nevada, retail sports betting plays a big role.
The mobile handle brought in $424.2 million in wagers which is approximately 72.8 percent of the overall handle. Many bettors cross state lines to place bets in Las Vegas as the battle of the market between the Tribes and sportsbook operators continues.
However, gas prices in California have skyrocketed over the past few weeks, that have stopped the traffic of bettors looking to make a few wagers. In addition, baseball season is when the average betting volume decreases before the start of the NFL season.
This is the first time bookmakers accepted less than $700 million in bets for a month. However, there was one positive indicator that suggests the market has succeeded to some degree. The year-over-year numbers were up 28.1 percent from April 2021.
What are the Other Handles that Have Gone Down
After March Madness ended, the NBA playoffs brought the most betting interest throughout the state. Bookmakers accepted a total of 247.1 million wagers, translated to just $14.6 million in revenue. The reason is the sportsbooks combined for a hold rate of 5.91 percent for April.
Operators brought in a total of $708.9 million in basketball wagers last month. They generated $47.8 million in gross revenue thanks to a much higher hold percentage of 6.74 percent.
Baseball took in $187.7 million but only had a hold rate of 3.8 percent, which accumulated $7.1 million in revenue. The MLB started later than usual as the owners and the MLBPA couldn’t agree. There were even talks of canceling the season at one point during the offseason.
There are no NFL or college football games in April, but the NFL Draft and USFL were taking place. Sportsbooks combined for a negative hold percentage of about -123.2 percent. The results easily favored the bettors in that category.
The percentage of sportsbooks with an overall hold increased from 4.28 percent to 4.35 percent in a month. With a much lesser handle, sports betting revenue dropped 31.1 percent.
What Will Happen to Nevada Sports Betting Market During the Summer
It’s hard to figure out what the outlook is with a lot of internal and external factors in play. The sports betting handles may be down until the fall; however, Nevada can rely on its casinos and other gaming facilities.
The casino handle has also decreased for the month, but the year-to-date win percentage is up over 27 percent. Some bettors may have to switch as they await football season. There isn’t a huge market for iGaming in the Silver State.
