
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s order for all casinos in the state to close in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus feels like a year ago, but in reality, it was less than two months back. Despite being open for the first two weeks, the gaming revenue for March in Nevada doesn’t look promising.
April is expected to be even more challenging as casinos were closed throughout the month. During this period, only four sportsbook apps and one poker website were active.
March Gaming Revenue
According to the monthly report from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, gaming revenue in Nevada fell by almost 40% in March, amounting to $618.1 million. This is a significant decrease from $1.022 billion recorded the same time last year.
The Vegas Strip suffered the most significant blow, with gaming revenue for its casinos plummeting by 45.6% to $299.9 million. As a point of comparison, downtown Las Vegas casinos experienced a comparatively lower drop in gaming revenue, falling by 25.9% from last year to $43.45 million.
Sports Betting Crushed
Typically, March proves to be one of the most profitable months for Nevada sportsbooks, largely due to the popularity of the first weekend of March Madness. This event attracts many viewers and bettors. However, the Nevada Gaming Control Board does not distinguish between college and professional sports in their records, making it challenging to determine the precise total wagered on the college basketball tournament. Based on anecdotal evidence, the total betting for the full NCAA basketball tournament tends to be near that of the Super Bowl.
The cancellation of all major professional sports, including the NCAA basketball tournament, drastically impacted sports betting. In March, the sports betting handle was slightly above $141 million. This is a significant drop from 2019 when the state-wide sports betting handle reached $596 million.
The amount of money gambled has dropped, and Nevada sportsbooks only earned $1.5 million from those wagers. ESPN reports that this is the lowest earnings for Nevada sportsbooks in March since 1993. In total, Nevada sportsbooks’ earnings were over 95% less than the record high achieved during last year’s March Madness.
Positively, mobile sports betting represented slightly less than 63% of the sports betting handle in March, showing an increase from slightly more than 50% in February.
Non-traditional sports impact on sports wagering revenue
The Nevada Gaming Control Board’s approval of new sports such as table tennis (ping pong) and esports for wagering has received significant attention. These newly approved sports are categorized under the “other” section of the Nevada gaming revenue report for sports betting.
Legal Sports Report states that “other” sports were responsible for $21.2 million in bets placed in March. When the gaming revenue for April is announced, it is anticipated that this will constitute the majority of all sports bets placed in Nevada.
Looking Forward
Gaming revenue experienced a decline in March, and it is expected to deteriorate further when April’s figures are reported. This is due to the closure of all Nevada casinos for the entire month. The only gambling options available in Nevada during this period were through four sportsbook applications and WSOP.com.
Governor Sisolak will unveil his ‘Roadmap to Recovery’ plan on Thursday, which is expected to detail when Nevada casinos can reopen and potentially start their rebound in gaming revenue in May.
We previously mentioned that the Westgate Superbook app will start accepting bets in May. This will provide the opportunity for thousands of additional sports bettors with accounts to place bets on any current and upcoming sports events that are open for wagering.