Nevada is the latest state to post record sports betting handle figures for the month of October.
According to the latest figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) bettors in the Silver State wagered $1.1bn on sports in October.
Like many other states, Nevada owes its success to the fact that October had five full Friday through Sunday weekends, giving sportsbooks plenty of time to take more bets on college and professional football.
October’s handle marked a major 39.9% month-on-month increase on the $786.5m wagered in September. The latest figure is also up 66.8% on the $659.9m wagered in October 2020.
Although the state of Nevada set a new record for handle in October, the state took second place on the national leaderboard behind New Jersey where bettors wagered $1.3bn on sports in October.
Despite coming in second place for October, being the second sportsbook to pass the $1bn handle threshold during football season is a major milestone for the US sports betting scene.
Turning to revenue, sportsbooks in the state managed to generate a combined $48.3m. October’s revenue was up from the $42.4m generated this time last year, but down from the $54.2m generated in September.
Sportsbooks in the Silver State contributed $3.3m in taxes to state coffers in October.
Football makes up major chunk of handle
It should come as no surprise that football was the most popular sport to bet in October.
Bettors in the Silver State wagered a combined $729.3m on football events in October. Football handle alone almost managed to break September’s entire handle figure. Despite making up so much of the state’s handle, sportsbooks only held onto $29.8m of football bets.
Baseball came in second place with $121.7m being wagered on the sports and sportsbooks held onto just $4.2m in revenue.
Basketball handle took the third spot, likely due to the start of the NBA season, with $110.9m being wagered. Nevada sportsbooks managed to generate $8m from basketball betting.
Operators managed to generate $1.1m in revenue from $42.9m in hockey bets. Parlay bets accounted for $11.4m of the state’s handle and $4.3m of the total revenue figure.
Meanwhile, sports in the “other” category accounted for $84.5m in bets and just $1m in revenue.
Another record month for US sports betting
Nearly every state with legal sports betting has posted record sports betting figures in October. So far 16 states have published their sports betting figures for October making up a combined sports betting handle of $5.159bn for October.
For comparison, in September, 22 markets posted a combined sports betting handle of $5.202bn.
Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wyoming have yet to publish their October figures.
New Jersey set a new handle record of $1.3bn in October while Pennsylvania’s betting handle hit $776.3m and Michigan bettors wagered $497.6m.
Meanwhile, Indiana bettors wagered a record $461.1m in October while Tennessee sportsbooks took a record $375.3m for the month.