Nevada is one of the latest US states with legal betting to report a dip in handle in April.
According to the latest figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), sports betting handle in the Silver State dipped to $454.7m in April.
Nevada’s betting handle was down 29.1% from the $641m wagered in March. During the previous month, the market received a significant boost from the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.
Nevada’s April handle marked the state’s lowest figure since July 2020, where the global sports market was almost at a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Betting revenue amounted to $27.2m in April, down from the $39.3m generated by sportsbooks in March.
A step up from last April
The state’s latest figures mark a huge step up from April last year where there was almost nothing to bet on as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
In April 2020, the NGCB did not release a monthly sports betting report as casinos in the state were closed and there were very few sporting events to bet on. This time last year, the state only had online poker and online sports betting revenue to report.
Last April and May, Nevada’s total sports betting handle amounted to a combined $56.3m.
The regulator cannot publish information on an individual operator. As there was only one poker operator with figures for the two months, all sports betting revenue had to be redacted as well.
The poor performance last year can be attributed to a lack of sporting events to bet on, as well as the fact that consumers cannot register online sportsbook accounts without visiting a casino.
Basketball and baseball among top sports
According to the state report, basketball was once again the most popular sport to bet on in Nevada.
Bettors in the state wagered $181.1m on basketball events and in turn, sportsbooks generated $8.6m in revenue from these bets.
Meanwhile, baseball was the second most popular sport to bet on with sports fans wagering $163.7m on events. Sportsbooks managed to hold onto $14.1m from these baseball bets.
Hockey followed in a distant third with sportsbooks taking $45.6m in hockey wagers.
