Sports betting handle in Nevada dropped in all six reported categories compared to last year, according to the October report.
Handle hit $920.9 million in October 2022, down 16.3% from the $1.1 billion bet last year. The decline was split nearly equally across mobile and retail.
Operators likely still will be happy despite the lower volume, though, as they held 6.17% this year compared to 4.39% last year. That led to a 17.7% increase in sports betting revenue to $56.9 million, translating to $3.8 million paid in taxes for the month, according to the monthly report.
October marked the third straight month of handle decline for Nevada sportsbooks.
Was Nevada betting dip based on visitation?
Anyone looking for the answer on why Nevada sports betting handle dipped in October will not find it in the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority‘s visitation report.
There were more than 3.6 million visitors to Las Vegas in October, which was up 7.3% from the prior year. Hotel occupancy was 87.7%, the highest level since November 2019.
Both October 2021 and October 2022 featured two Las Vegas Raiders home games, along with a Raiders bye week.
Football had largest decline
Football had the largest share of the $179.8 million decrease in handle. There was $607.4 million spent on college football and NFL betting this October, which was $121.9 million less than the $729.3 million bet last year for a 16.7% drop.
That drop is despite a better football calendar this year compared to last year. An extra Monday Night Football game is included in this October’s results.
The largest handle drop in terms of percentage came in basketball. Handle dropped 28.6% from last year to $79.2 million.
The four other categories combined for the remaining $26.2 million decline:
- Other: $11.8 million lower, down 14%
- Baseball: $7 million lower, down 5.7%
- Hockey: $6 million lower, down 14.1%
- Parlay cards: $1.3 million lower, down 11.8%
