NV Sports Betting Handle Reaches Third Highest All-Time In March

• More than $641 million was wagered on sports in Nevada for March.
• Most of the wagers came from college basketball betting during the March Madness Tournament.
• Nevada saw a 6.1% hold rate for sportsbooks equaling $39.3 million in revenue.

CARSON CITY, Nev. – Nevada managed to bounce back in March from the slight dip in activity sports betting saw in February thanks to March Madness betting.

This increase in betting activity has led to an increase in sports betting revenue as well, with the bulk of the action all coming from March Madness betting.

Those betting on sports in Nevada were active at both mobile sportsbooks and retail operations, showing Nevada still has a dominant presence with brick-and-mortar operations compared to other markets.

Nevada March Madness

According to the official revenue report released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, sports betting fans in the Silver State placed $641 million on sports in March. Sportsbooks collected $39.3 million in sports betting revenue, a 6.1% hold rate for the month.

As stated earlier, March Madness betting dominated the market in March. Around $501.5 million came from those betting on the NCAA Tournament, which equates to $4 out of every $5 bet on sports in March being placed on college basketball.

Since there was no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing nationwide shutdowns, we have to go back to 2019 March to compare the numbers. What we see is that March Madness betting is up 1.3% from 2019’s $495 million in wagers.

Nevada saw most of its wagers come from mobile sportsbooks, but still had a dominant presence from retail sportsbooks as well. Despite only being open at 50% capacity in March, 40% of the total betting handle, or $255.9 million came from retail sportsbooks to $385.1 million coming from mobile sportsbooks. Compared to the other two major markets, Pennsylvania saw 92% of its total handle in mobile wagers in March and New Jersey saw 91%.

What this shows is that Nevada betting fans are slower to embracing mobile betting compared to other markets. This could be due to Nevada’s long history as the main legal sports betting market.

Betting fans still view Las Vegas as a tourist destination for betting and chose to physically go to the popular casinos to bet on their favorite sports. Still, mobile betting is slowly claiming the dominant spot in Nevada as well, already holding 60% of the total market.

News tags: Carson City | College Basketball | Las Vegas | March Madness | NCAA | Nevada | Nevada Gaming Control Board | Revenue