Baseball Betting Continues To Dominate Nevada Sportsbooks

• June’s betting handle of $322 million sets a new record for June sports betting in Nevada.
• Baseball betting in Nevada during June accounted for 70% of the monthly sportsbook revenue.
• Sportsbooks in Nevada have failed to contribute more than $1.5 million to the state in three straight months.

LAS VEGAS – Just when everybody thought New Jersey had surpassed Nevada as the top gambling destination, Nevada sportsbooks posted their best June handle on record.

For the month, bettors in Nevada wagered $322 million with nearly two-thirds of that coming directly from baseball betting, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Over the last three months, the action for baseball has steadily increased, as April brought in $135 million, May saw over $182 in baseball action, and June’s report notched a total over $208 million.

Bettors did as expected with the summer sport, allowing the books to hold 5.56% of baseball action – right in line with Nevada’s overall hold (5.89%) since the repeal of PASPA.

For all action in Nevada during the month, sportsbooks secured 5.15% of the handle, much better than the 3.55% kept during May when everyone suggested New Jersey had overtaken Nevada.

This hold percentage equates to $16.59 million in monthly revenue for the sportsbooks in Nevada with baseball being responsible for $11.6 million, or 70%, of that total. These numbers come before subtracting the state tax contributions, which totaled $1.19 million for the month.

The books have now failed to contribute more than $1.5 million to the state in a month during June, May, and April; however, this trend will likely continue one or two more months until NFL betting dominates the books in August and September.

Bettors in Nevada were also keen on the “other category” which encompasses soccer, hockey, golf, tennis, and the other sports not named football, basketball, and baseball. For June, Nevada sports bettors wagered $60.7 million in this category, thanks in part to multiple sporting events happening throughout the month: the Women’s World Cup, the NHL Stanley Cup, the US Open, and the French Open.

When it came to basketball betting, those who wagered on the Toronto Raptors to win the NBA Finals left Nevada happy, and the numbers support this was a strong majority. With $51.4 million bet on basketball and less than $1 million kept by the books, NBA bettors took home 98.16% of the basketball action, proving their methods to beat the books.

Though New Jersey will remain in the sites of Nevada, the state must also turn their attention to Pennsylvania, who went live with mobile betting this past month. With a tax rate at 36% (over 5 times Nevada’s), it would be a surprise to no one to see Pennsylvania hit new highs when heading into the NFL season.

News tags: Nevada | Nevada Gaming Control Board | New Jersey | NFL | Pennsylvania | Toronto Raptors