Nevada’s sports betting handle fell behind New Jersey’s, again.
According to figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), in August, Nevada’s sportsbooks processed $287.8m in wagers, up 16% from the $247.6m wagered in August last year.
Despite an impressive year-on-year increase in betting handle, Nevada continued to trail behind the New Jersey sports betting market. In New Jersey, sportsbooks handled $293.5m in sports bets in the month of August.
In terms of revenue, Nevada’s sportsbooks had a good month in August. Sportsbooks in the Silver State managed to generate a total of $18.7m in revenue, a massive increase on the $12.6m generated in August 2018.
Looking closer at the figures
Football was the highest-earning sport for Nevada’s sportsbooks. Bettors in the Silver State placed $72.3m in football bets while sportsbooks held onto $12.6m of those bets.
A total of $178.9m was wagered on baseball events. While sports bettors wagered more on baseball, sportsbooks in the state managed to generate just under $6.7m in revenue.
Sportsbooks in Nevada made a loss of $868,000 on basketball bets after bettors wagered $5.6m on basketball events.
Parlays generated $510,000 for sportsbooks in Nevada after bettors in the state wagered $718,614 on parlays.
Sportsbooks made a loss of $257,000 on other events after bettors wagered $30.2m in other sporting events.
New Jersey v Nevada
August marked the second consecutive month where New Jersey’s sports betting handle surpassed Nevada’s handle.
New Jersey’s success can be attributed to the openness of the state’s betting market. Although both New Jersey and Nevada have mobile sports betting, Nevada regulations require bettors to register their accounts in person at a physical casino sportsbook. New Jersey, on the other hand, allows bettors to create accounts remotely from anywhere within the state, making it much more convenient to sign up and bet.
While New Jersey is currently the largest sports betting market in the US, the market is still fairly young. Earlier this year, New Jersey’s neighbour, Pennsylvania, launched its online sports betting market.
In August, the fourth month of online betting in Pennsylvania, betting handle surpassed $100m for the first time. Although it is still early days, Pennsylvania’s betting market could soon rival New Jersey’s market as more operators enter the state.
For an in-depth look at each state’s sports betting statistics visit the BettingUS stats page.
