Nevada sports betting may have fallen nearly $50 million in December, but revenue was still up nearly 2% at 6.27% from November’s numbers.
Nevada’s legal sports betting grip fell in December for the first time in four months, but that doesn’t mean things aren’t going well in the Silver State.
Despite falling from $927.9 million in November to $880.5 million the next month, December sales were still $55.2 million and the 6.27% hold was more than up 2%, according to numbers released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Sports betting in Nevada hasn’t hit the billion-dollar mark since January 2022, and total bets are down 13.1% from December 2021. Still, December 2022 revenue increased by a staggering 245.9% from last month’s 2021. The state also collected $3.7 million in taxes last month.
Last month, online sports betting sites accounted for 68.6% of sports betting, which is around $604 million. That is 21.6% less than a year ago. Retail sports betting generated a 13.4% share and $37.1 million in revenue.
A big year for a big betting state
The boom in legalized sports betting across the country didn’t stop Nevada from posting its best-ever numbers for a calendar year, growing its profit by a meager 0.2% year over year. It was a small win, but a win in the desert nonetheless.
Nevada can partially credit this rise to a surge in mobile sports betting, which has jumped from 64.6% of total bets in 2021 to 68.3% in 2022. Mobile accounted for $203.2 million of a record-breaking $446.7 million in 2022 revenue.
“Continued consumer adoption of mobile sports betting is the catalyst behind these results,” said Michael Lawton, senior economic analyst at the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
It helped sports betting bring in $8.7 billion last year and surpassed the previous state record of $445.1 million in revenue on $8.1 billion in 2021.
Football Rules December
It’s no surprise that football continued to dominate the Nevada sports betting landscape in December. With $481.8 million wagered on esports, sportsbook claimed a 7% share to generate $33.7 million in revenue.
Basketball accounted for $271.3 million with a 4.9% stake that brought in $13.3 million in revenue to take second place.
For the calendar year, baskets beat soccer by about $57 million, but despite a higher wager increase year-over-year, basketball revenue fell 17.2% in 2022. Soccer sales were also up 2.6%, and that claimed about $8 million more sales in 2022 than in 2021.