In May, Nevada Sportsbooks claimed $36 million in revenue

On Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported $36 million in sports betting revenue for May 2024. That’s a year-over-year increase in revenue while their betting handle went down. Compared to their winnings from May 2023, operators were up 19.8%. That helped outpace their 2.3% decline in their betting handle. Last month, Nevada’s betting handle was just shy of the industry standard at 7%. However, it was 1.3% higher than May 2023. Additionally, their revenue was up 17% from April 2024. Nevada’s handle was down 9.4% from April’s $569.2 million in wagers accepted. 

For the first time in 32 months, Nevada’s neighboring state finished with a higher betting handle. The Arizona sports betting market has been thriving in 2024. Nevada is assured to not be in the top five nationally for betting handles in May. There’s even a chance Nevada falls out of the top 10. Massachusetts generated a higher betting handle in May. Illinois, Ohio, and Virginia have still not posted their numbers. One reason Nevada is falling behind is that it requires in-person registration for access to mobile betting.

Losses from the 2023 NFL season are still affecting Nevada’s revenue

In May 2024, Nevada sportsbooks paid out $3.4 million above the $1.6 million worth of football wagers accepted. These types of losses are common this time of year as bettors are still cashing in on Super Bowl-winning tickets. Over the last three months, operators have paid out $22 million above the betting handle. That’s $144,000 more than the same period last year. For basketball, Nevada claimed $17.2 million in winnings with a 9.3% hold. Their highest monthly win rate since June 2021. 

Wagering on basketball was up 43.7% compared to May 2023. An increase of $5.2 million. Baseball revenue was down 32.3% from May 2023 for a total of $17.2 million. Additionally, their $204.3 million worth of wagers was down 11.2% year-over-year.