August was one of the best month’s ever for Nevada’s sports books, which won a combined .9 million, thanks to the Mayweather-McGregor super-fight and the return of college and pro football.
The fight is credited with generating almost 60 percent of the total, a staggering 1,650 percent improvement, all told, over the same month last year, according to figures released by the state Gaming Control Board.
The much-hyped contest pitting undefeated multiple title-holder Floyd Mayweather Jr. against UFC champion Conor McGregor drew around $70 million in bets at the state’s 190 books.
The books won $6.6 million on football and $8.6 million on baseball.
It was a banner month for Nevada’s casinos all the way around, with the increased tourism related to the fight contributing to a 15 percent year-on-year spike in gaming win to $989.5 million.
The maiden season of the NHL’s new Las Vegas franchise, the Golden Knights, won’t hurt any either. The league had said it might request betting restrictions from state regulators and MGM Resorts International, which owns the T-Mobile Arena, the Knights’ home ice, but has decided against it, at least for now.
“We had discussions both with the club and MGM, with respect to betting around the arena,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN in September. “There may be some steps done in respect to that, but we didn’t feel like it was an appropriate time to make the global request.”
