By Dave Tuley (VSiN.com senior reporter)
LAS VEGAS – Nevada sportsbook operators prepare all summer for September, when they know the first full month of the NFL and college football regular seasons will fill their books as well as their coffers.
September 2019 didn’t disappoint as Nevada’s 191 sportsbooks won $52.06 million from bettors during the month, holding 9.53 percent of the total handle of $546 million, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the state’s Gaming Control Board. All figures also outperformed New Jersey’s fledgling sports betting industry as the Garden State handled just over $445 million, holding 8.5 percent for a profit of $38 million. This was the first victory in three months for Nevada in the unofficial rivalry for highest betting handle, though Nevada’s total for the past three months is $1.068 billion (with a “b”) compared to Jersey’s $989 million.
Nevada vs. New Jersey
Monthly sports betting handle
Month Nevada New Jersey
May $317 million $318 million
June $322 million $317 million
July $235 million $251 million
August $287 million $293 million
September $546 million $445 million
*Numbers rounded down
Nevada’s overall sports betting win was actually down 7.62 percent from September 2018 as bettors fared slightly better in the opening month compared to last year, but, as expected, football accounted for the vast majority of the books’ win as $40 million of the $52 million total came from football (pro and college football are combined in these state-wide figures). In addition, football is a big part of the “Sports Parlay Cards” (which are relatively non-existent the rest of the year) category that won another $5.4 million from a hold of a whopping 46.31 percent hold.
Baseball, with the winding down of its regular season in September, was the second-biggest winner for the books at $7.6 million, an increase of 79.22 percent from last September thanks to a healthy hold of 6.22 percent for that sport.
September 2019 Nevada Gaming Figures
Category Win/Loss %Change Hold%
Overall $52,068,000 -7.62 9.53
Football $39,968,000 -11.90 10.35
Basketball -$912,000 69.71 -22.89
Baseball $7,615,000 79.22 6.22
Sports Parlay Cards $5,426,000 -20.25 46.31
Other* $872,000 -42.15 2.85
Horse Racing $2,650,000 -20.14 15.14
%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, MMA and all other sports except
the ones listed individually