Tough Month of March Reported for Nevada Sportsbooks

Favorites prevailing in the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball tournaments led to a poor win rate and a tough month for Nevada sports betting apps and the state's retail providers, including many of our best sportsbooks.

According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board March Report, the state's March handle increased month-over-month but decreased compared to March 2023. Revenues dropped significantly month-over-month and year-over-year, thanks mostly to bettors besting sportsbooks and the unfortunate March hold rate.

Basketball betting was a major loser for the Nevada sports betting scene in March. Bettor's success on pigskin action in the Silver State also forced providers to continue to pay out on Super Bowl wagers in March as the NFL’s marquee game favored the wagering public.

$784.4 million March handle

Nevada sportsbooks reported a $784.4 million March handle mostly because of the always-popular March Madness tournament. That figure represents a 10.1% month-over-month increase from the $712.6 million from February but is a 5.5% year-over-year decline from the $829.8 million from March 2023.

Nevada sports betting sites accounted for $507 million of the state's overall sports betting handle for March, with retail making up the rest. Mobile sports betting in the Silver State dropped 4.6% year-over-year, including a dip for some of our best sports betting apps.

Revenues down

Sportsbook revenues in Nevada failed to impress in March. Profits were a major disappointment considering the fact that March Madness is traditionally a major revenue generator for state sports betting providers.

The culprit? An ugly 3.8% win rate for Silver State sportsbooks.

Just $29.8 million in March revenues were reported by state providers, a 32.1% year-over-year decline from $43.85 million in March 2023, when the hold rate was 5.3%.

It represents an even bigger month-over-month revenue drop from the $47.9 million in profits from February when the win rate was 6.7%.

Basketball, which should have been March's bread-and-butter, was another reason for the disappointing revenue totals for Nevada's best sportsbooks. Last year, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas hosted regional games in the March Madness tournament. This year, it did not.

As a result, basketball and the March Madness tournament led to a decrease in overall hoops wagering activity and an underwhelming 5.3% hold. It led to a year-over-year 27.6% drop in March revenues from hoops action alone.

As mentioned, February's Super Bowl win rate for Nevada sportsbooks also affected revenues in March. Nevada sports betting apps and retail providers paid out $12.9 million in March on the Super Bowl as a carryover from the wagering action from February.

The win rate for hockey was also poor for Nevada sportsbooks in March. Just 1.6% was held on puck action last month.