Many people enjoy watching and wagering on sports of one sort or another, and that has Nevada on the cusp of a record billion sport-betting handle this year.
While sports betting at one time was relegated to illegal bookie operations, Nevada over the decades carved out a successful niche market that has grown from a slow, moderately profitable endeavor into a highly profitable operation.
In 2006, Nevadasports books reported $2.4 billion in wagers, and that figure remained relatively stagnant through the Great Recession.
In 2012, the statewide sports betting handle exceeded $3 billion, and it hit a record $4.2 billion last year. Another record is likely this year, and could go as high as $5 billion, with an estimated 5.5 percent win.
Nevada Gaming Control Board Senior Analyst Michael Lawton says the advent of mobile betting apps has helped the state’s sports betting industry to grow.
He also says widespread coverage of sports on television and online broadcasts also is boosting betting participation. Other factors, such as the advent and expansion of prop betting and in-game wagering, the rise of daily fantasy sports, laws making it harder to bet offshore, and increased societal acceptance also are helping to boost sports-betting handles.
The result, so far, has been a record-setting year for many sporting events.
Nevada sports books took in a record $132.5 million in wagers on the Super Bowl and likely topped a record $200 million in wagers on the annual NCAA March Madness men’s basketball national title run.
Although Nevada is poised to hit $5 billion in sports bets laid this year, that amount is a fraction of the estimated $400 billion wagered illegally across the United States each year.
