Nevada casinos suffered losses during the pandemic. However, Nevada sports betting revenue increased in August. It rose 65 percent during the month that had NBA, NHL, and MLB games.
Casinos are down 22 percent since last summer and 39 percent for 2020. Also, casino revenue decreased by 22 percent in August. Gambling numbers have been in decline since March. Coronavirus shut down casinos across the US. Thus, it reduced profits for states with legal gambling.
Although people stayed away from casinos, sportsbooks picked up the slack, especially when professional sports returned. Thus, Nevada saw higher revenue in August. In the state, sportsbooks earned $743 million in the month, which was a 26 percent increase from the previous month.
Nevada Sports Betting Revenue
According to bookie pay per head reports, Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, saw revenue of $594 million. However, most of the action came from the Vegas Strip, which handled $317 million. Even when there’s a pandemic, players continued to wager on sports.
Although the revenue was an increase from July, it was still down 22 percent year-over-year. Also, August is a slow month for sports betting in general. Baseball is the primary sport in sports wagering in August, based on sportsbook software sources. Even with the NHL and NBA games, the action was still low when compared to last year.
However, insiders blamed the low revenue on mobile betting. It remained an unpopular sport betting option in the state. If mobile betting were more accessible, sports betting numbers would be higher in the state. Mobile betting is what makes bookie successful in other states, such as New Jersey.
Nevada is struggling to attract players to casinos. As the state recover slowly, sports betting remains a bright spot for Nevada. While the numbers are still low, it has an upward trend in recent months. Nevada hopes that sports betting can keep it afloat in a time when casinos are suffering losses.
