Nevada Sportsbooks Down in June But Gaming Win Above $1B Again

Nevada’s overall gaming win for June of almost $1.28 billion was a slight decrease from May but a substantial increase from June of 2021.

However, the increase in the state’s total revenues was mainly attributable to wagering on the Las Vegs Strip while “locals” markets were flat or down in same-month, year-over-year comparisons.

Sports betting handle was also down in June compared to May and compared to June 2021, but the corresponding drop in sports betting revenues was not nearly as dramatic as in some other sports gambling jurisdictions around the country.

The overall state gaming win in June of $1.28 billion was down just 1.5% from May but up more than 8% from the same month a year ago ($1.18 billion). 

Nevada has now hit the billion-dollar mark in total gaming revenue for 16 straight months, according to figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The June gaming win totals were bolstered mainly by the Strip, where the gaming win in June was $734.8 million, an increase of more than $3 million over May ($731.5 million).

Downtown Vegas casinos reported an overall decrease from the previous month and from the same month in 2021. For June, downtown’s total gaming win was about $70 million compared to about $79 million in May, a decrease of more than 11%. June was also down compared to the same month in 2021 (also about $79 million). 

North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip, two of the Greater Las Vegas areas that the Nevada Gaming Control Board breaks out in its monthly revenue reports, saw deceases of 8.31% and 11.86%, respectively, from the same month a year ago.

Decreases in Nevada gaming markets that cater to local residents compared to the revenue performance of the Strip, which attracts fly-in and drive-in (mainly Southern California) tourists, could indicate that “convenience gambling” might be more impacted by the larger economic picture and inflation.

There are no online gambling sites in Nevada but the state does have internet poker.

In Nevada sports wagering, the June handle of $490.56 million was down 12.7% from May ($562 million), and that was mainly due to a slowing of the sports calendar that saw baseball as the main betting outlet. Double-digit percentage drops in handle were the case in just about all sports gambling jurisdictions around the country. The year-over-year comparison was also down for Nevada, by 10% from the $545.4 million in June 2021.

However, where Nevada fared much better than some other states regarding sports betting was in revenue. Overall sports wagering revenue in Nevada was $23.84 million, down 11.7% from May ($27 million) and down 18.3% from June 2021 ($29.2 million).

But in Michigan, gross gaming revenue in June was $5.47 million, down 77.8% from May. In Pennsylvania, gross sports betting taxable revenue was $12.77 million, down 63.4% from May, and in New Jersey, sports betting revenue was about $32.25 million, down 44.9% from May.

Among states with robust retail and online sports wagering operations, Nevada relies less on internet play. For June, mobile sports betting handle was $329.63 million, or 67.2% of the total handle. The June mobile handle was down 17.1% from May ($397.77 million), and up 4.9% from June 2021 ($314.31 million).

One of the biggest gambling events in Vegas concluded this month.

Norwegian Espen Jorstad won the World Series of Poker title on July 19. He was one of six international players to finish in the top 10 at the final table.

This year marked the first time that the WSOP final was held at the Bally’s-Paris hotel complex on the Las Vegas Strip.

Jorstad collected the $10 million first prize, beating runnerup Adrian Attenborough, who collected $6 million. The top American was third-place Michael Duek of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who earned a $4 million payday.

Aside from Nevada, other states that have legalized online poker are Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, Michigan and West Virginia.