Dave Tuley
VSiN.com senior reporter
LAS VEGAS – Anecdotal evidence during the first few weeks of the NFL season was that the books were cleaning up on bettors – and that was confirmed Tuesday as the state’s Gaming Control Board released figures that showed the books won a record $44.34 million on football (NCAA and NFL are combined) in September and another record $56.3 million overall.
The football win was an 8.9% increase from last September when the books won $40.7 million, but the previous record was actually a $43.5 million win in September 2012. That month was also the previous overall record-holder at $53.37 million.
The $571 million in overall sports betting handle set another record, which should probably put an end to the comments that the expansion of legalized sports betting to other states would put a dent in Nevada’s sports betting industry. Instead, it appears to have increased interest and whet everyone's appetite for more wagering opportunities.
The 11.4 hold percentage for football was higher than normal but dwarfed by the 60.67% hold on sports parlay cards.
Baseball saw its usual dip in September as most bettors turn their attention to football, but the books still won $4.2 million on the sport, which was actually up 14.73% from last September.
September 2018 Nevada Gaming Figures
Category 2018 Win/Loss %Change Hold%
Overall $56,304,000* 26.72 9.86
Football $44,342,000* 8.90 11.40
Basketball -$537,000 -13.34 -27.23
Baseball $4,249,000 14.73 3.24
Sports Parlay Cards $6,803,000 17.24 60.67
Other -$1,447,000 -127.97 3.80
Horse Racing $3,319,000 -5.75 16.18
%Change is compared to same month last year
Hold% is percentage the books won/lost from the handle in that category
"Other" includes hockey, golf, auto racing and all other sports except for horse racing.
*All-time record