Nevada Sports Books See 1,650-Percent Increase In Winnings In AugustMcGregor-Mayweather Fight Fuels Big Month For Industry |
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As expected, August was a monster month for Nevada sports books.
The casinos had a huge year-over-year increase in revenue thanks to bets on football and baseball, as well as the widely-watched fight between MMA’s Conor McGregor and boxing’s Floyd Mayweather Jr.
According to the state figures released late last week, the books won a combined $33.9 million on all the wagers, up a whopping 1,650 percent compared to August 2016.
There are 190 sports books in the state of Nevada.
The sports books won $19.7 million from the “other” category, which includes boxing and MMA matches. It’s assumed that nearly all of that was on the super-fight. The books won 26.6 percent of that handle, which means that about $70 million was bet on the contest.
The books won $6.6 million on football, and $8.6 million on baseball, according to the state report. The hold percentages were 20.5 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.
The sports betting revenue, combined with increased gambling overall thanks to the tourism connected to the McGregor-Mayweather fight, resulted in Nevada casinos reporting $989.5 million in total gaming revenue for the month, up 15 percent year-over-year.
September should be another strong month for Nevada sports betting, thanks to the start of the NFL season and the Canelo vs. GGG boxing match that also drew heavy betting. However, it won’t be as good as it could have been because the books were forced to give some refunds after the fight ended in a controversial draw.
The beginning of the 2017-18 professional football season wasn’t without some controversy. A feud between President Donald Trump and the league reached such intensity that there were some calls to boycott the games. That hasn’t had any impact on betting in Nevada, according to one prominent sports book in Las Vegas.
“We have not seen a drop in wagering handle,” Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook Manager Jeff Sherman told Card Player. “NFL sports wagering is as vibrant as ever. It would take something larger than that to put a noticeable dent in NFL handle.”
About $1.7 billion was bet on football in Nevada last year.
As everyone is aware of, the horrific massacre in Las Vegas on Oct. 1 left 59 dead and hundreds more injured or wounded. The impact that the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history will have on Las Vegas tourism, and thus on gaming, won’t be known for several weeks.
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