Nevada Sportsbooks Report Short Hold For Third Consecutive Month


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Nevada sportsbooks

Nevada sportsbooks held under 4% in February, marking the third straight month hold fell below the state’s average.

Operators held 3.96% of the $780.8 million bet in February for $30.9 million in sports betting revenue. Nevada’s average hold since June 2018 is now 5.78%, which has not been topped since November’s 6.63%.

Sportsbooks paid nearly $2.1 million in taxes last month.

Nevada sportsbooks burned on basketball

February’s low hold came from basketball, where operators held just 2.75% of bets for the month. That equaled $12.5 million in revenue off $456.3 million bet.

Operators reported $181.9 million in football betting for the month, an expectedly steep drop from the $454 million bet in January. Most all of that handle came from Super Bowl betting with Nevada leading all reporting jurisdictions with $179.8 million bet. Revenue for February was $11.1 million on a 6.11% hold.

Hockey was the third-largest revenue source in February with just over $4 million on $59.5 million bet. The ‘other’ category contributed $3.4 million in revenue on $81.8 million bet.

Parlays, as usual, had the highest hold at 28%, but there was just $1.1 million bet on them for $308,000 in revenue.

Handle up compared to last year

The lack of NFL betting opportunities in February compared to January led to month-over-month handle and revenue declines in almost every US sports betting jurisdiction. Most, if not all, jurisdictions should see handle bounce back in March thanks to March Madness betting.

Nevada’s handle fell 29.6% compared to the record $1.109 billion bet in January but jumped 40.9% from February 2021.

StateFeb 2022 Handlevs.Feb 2021vs. Jan. 2022
New York$1,534,078,89410843.0%-9.0%
New Jersey$985,568,31332.7%-26.9%
Nevada$780,768,85340.9%-29.6%
Pennsylvania$597,064,04917.2%-24.8%
Michigan$423,768,38130.2%-20.4%
Indiana$409,109,10449.4%-18.2%
Tennessee$313,298,30577.7%-18.8%
Louisiana$238,413,596N/A165.7%
Iowa$215,921,31350.3%-28.8%
Connecticut$115,619,953N/A-26.9%
New Hampshire$70,866,28239.0%-28.8%
West Virginia$49,271,58328.9%-16.3%
Rhode Island$42,143,26123.6%-28.1%
Mississippi$40,871,618-14.5%-38.6%
Oregon$39,458,43133.3%-8.0%
Maryland$25,526,148N/A-21.7%
Washington DC$19,072,85624.6%2.4%
Arkansas$5,876,44431.5%-30.2%
Montana$3,632,000-6.1%-29.0%
South Dakota$685,631N/A-17.9%
Total$5,911,015,01599.4%-19.0%

*Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Virginia and Wyoming have not reported. 

The first full month of mobile sports betting in both New York and Louisiana skews that handle growth a bit. Stripping both out, handle grew 39.6% over last February.

Revenue a mixed bag

Betting revenue did not decline as broadly as handle did with nine jurisdictions showing growth and seven declining:

StateFeb. 2022 Revenuevs. Feb. 2021vs. Jan. 2022
New York$81,424,5986960.3%-33.9%
New Jersey$30,873,369-33.2%-48.7%
Nevada$30,920,000-2.9%-38.2%
Pennsylvania$22,160,553-33.2%-58.5%
Michigan$21,633,471130.3%-40.9%
Indiana$16,958,3390.0%-52.3%
Tennessee$20,945,01861.1%-42.2%
Louisiana$17,294,691N/A-571.7%
Iowa$8,579,10011.3%-39.9%
Connecticut$4,749,489N/A-57.5%
New Hampshire$1,019,097-43.0%-87.3%
West Virginia$1,954,99943.3%-52.3%
Rhode Island$3,566,393129.2%-31.8%
Mississippi$1,887,995-59.0%-71.0%
Oregon$3,335,16524.2%39.6%
Maryland$955,377N/A-78.2%
Washington DC$740,542-44.4%-62.3%
Arkansas$331,001-49.5%-72.0%
Montana$706,000126.3%5.4%
South Dakota$71,807N/A-12.7%
Total$270,107,00455.5%-40.2%

New York and Louisiana have to be stripped out again, though, which changes the story drastically. Removing those two makes this February’s revenue $171.4 million, or 1.4% below last February.