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The popularity of sports betting reached record peaks in 2015, with Nevada sportsbooks taking in an all-time high $4.23 billion in wagers this past calendar year.
According to the latest reports from the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Silver State bookmakers won a total of almost $231.8 million on that record handle with a year-long win percentage (hold) of 5.47. Those earnings surpassed 2014’s gaming numbers, which gave Nevada sportsbooks a $227 million win on a then-record handle of $3.9 billion in sports bets.
“It is a sports-dominated culture and the industry has done a great job with technology in order to advance the interest in the space which has led to the continued growth in handle,” Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, tells Covers.
Sports betting handle has seen a rapid increase since 2010, when $2.761 billion was wager on sports in Nevada. That jumped to $2.878 billion in 2011, $3.451 in 2012, $3.622 billion in 2013, and $3.902 billion in 2014.
The growing popularity of the NFL and college football – and wagering on those games – is the driving force behind those record numbers. Nevada books took in $1.699 billion in football wagers (NFL and college) in 2015, which is actually less than the $1.749 billion in football bets made in 2014. However, the 2015 schedule bled over into 2016, with Week 17 taking place in January.
“We were down one week in September which we pick up in January 2016,” says Lawton. “That was the reason for football being down.”
The second most popular option among Nevada sports bettors, behind pigskin, was basketball (NBA and college), which brought in $1.251 billion in sports bets and gave the state’s bookies a $72.9 million win for the calendar year. That’s also an increase from 2014’s total handle of $1.108 billion bet on basketball, which resulted in a $54.2 million dollar win for sportsbooks.
Baseball betting enjoyed an uptick in action as well, with nearly $897.5 million wagered on MLB games in 2015, earning books $39.4 million. The category of “Other Sports”, which includes soccer, hockey, tennis, golf, racing, boxing and MMA, took in $333 million in wagers with a total win of $20.9 million. Parlay cards produced a win of almost $16 million on a total handle of $54 million in wagers – a 29.56 percent hold.
As for December 2015, Nevada bookmakers celebrated a total win of more than $18.5 million, with almost $9 million of that coming from football betting during the NFL season and college football bowls – taking in $28465 million in football bets with a hold of 3.91 percent. Basketball produced a more than $8.8 million win for books with “Other Sports” earning $1.66 million.
These record-shattering numbers coming out of Nevada are telling with the single biggest betting day of the year less than a week and half away: Super Bowl Sunday. Last year, Nevada books took in more than $116 million in bets on Super Bowl XLIX, which fell short of the $119 million record-setting handle for Super Bowl XLVIII the prior year.
The popularity of sports betting reached record peaks in 2015, with Nevada sportsbooks taking in an all-time high $4.23 billion in wagers this past calendar year.
According to the latest reports from the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Silver State bookmakers won a total of almost $231.8 million on that record handle with a year-long win percentage (hold) of 5.47. Those earnings surpassed 2014’s gaming numbers, which gave Nevada sportsbooks a $227 million win on a then-record handle of $3.9 billion in sports bets.
“It is a sports-dominated culture and the industry has done a great job with technology in order to advance the interest in the space which has led to the continued growth in handle,” Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, tells Covers.
Sports betting handle has seen a rapid increase since 2010, when $2.761 billion was wager on sports in Nevada. That jumped to $2.878 billion in 2011, $3.451 in 2012, $3.622 billion in 2013, and $3.902 billion in 2014.
The growing popularity of the NFL and college football – and wagering on those games – is the driving force behind those record numbers. Nevada books took in $1.699 billion in football wagers (NFL and college) in 2015, which is actually less than the $1.749 billion in football bets made in 2014. However, the 2015 schedule bled over into 2016, with Week 17 taking place in January.
“We were down one week in September which we pick up in January 2016,” says Lawton. “That was the reason for football being down.”
The second most popular option among Nevada sports bettors, behind pigskin, was basketball (NBA and college), which brought in $1.251 billion in sports bets and gave the state’s bookies a $72.9 million win for the calendar year. That’s also an increase from 2014’s total handle of $1.108 billion bet on basketball, which resulted in a $54.2 million dollar win for sportsbooks.
Baseball betting enjoyed an uptick in action as well, with nearly $897.5 million wagered on MLB games in 2015, earning books $39.4 million. The category of “Other Sports”, which includes soccer, hockey, tennis, golf, racing, boxing and MMA, took in $333 million in wagers with a total win of $20.9 million. Parlay cards produced a win of almost $16 million on a total handle of $54 million in wagers – a 29.56 percent hold.
As for December 2015, Nevada bookmakers celebrated a total win of more than $18.5 million, with almost $9 million of that coming from football betting during the NFL season and college football bowls – taking in $28465 million in football bets with a hold of 3.91 percent. Basketball produced a more than $8.8 million win for books with “Other Sports” earning $1.66 million.
These record-shattering numbers coming out of Nevada are telling with the single biggest betting day of the year less than a week and half away: Super Bowl Sunday. Last year, Nevada books took in more than $116 million in bets on Super Bowl XLIX, which fell short of the $119 million record-setting handle for Super Bowl XLVIII the prior year.
