- Nevada sportsbooks won nearly $62 million in November
- NFL favorites posted a record of just 28-42 in November, which produced an unusually high win rate for sportsbooks
- New record trounced the previous revenue record of over $56 million set in September of 2018
2020 hasn’t been a banner year in the sports betting industry, but 2021 appears primed to arrive with a bang. The previous year has been marred by countless postponements, cancelations, and hiatuses around the world of sports as a result of the pandemic. However, you can pretty easily make the argument that the sports betting industry as a whole has never been stronger than it is right now.
The burgeoning industry is booming in a number of states that recently made sports betting legal, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. While Nevada may have lost its status as the only state in the union with the ability to accept legal sports wagers, the industry itself is doing just fine in the Silver State.
Record Win Rate in November
According to Nevada Gaming Control, sportsbooks around the state won more money in November than they have in any other month in the history of Nevada sports betting. That history extends beyond 50 years, which makes this no small feat. Nevada sportsbooks won a net of nearly $62 million in November, which trumped the previous record of $56.4 million set back in September of 2018.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board has published its Abbreviated Revenue Release for statewide gaming win for November 2020: https://t.co/3ZW91ou2en pic.twitter.com/qaXiYQaftx
— Nevada Gaming Control Board (@NevadaGCB) December 29, 2020
As you may expect, football was primarily responsible for the massive numbers. Sportsbooks netted $56 million in profit on the $502 wagered at the state’s sportsbooks in November over the course of five different NFL and college football weekends. Both the amount won by sportsbooks and the total amount of money wagered were new single-month records.
NFL underdogs posted an excellent record of 42-28 against the spread in November, which was a massive boost to sportsbooks’ bottom lines. The general betting public typically backs favorites.
Jay Kornegay, the VP of race and sports for the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, told ESPN,
“The win was all about pro football results. I’d say 90 percent of the largest NFL decisions went our way in November, including some that were our biggest wins ever.”
Kornegay said that two games, in particular, stood out above the rest, adding,
“Everyone bet Tampa, and that really capped one of the biggest Sunday’s we’ve ever had.”
The Buccaneers wound up losing, 38-3, to the New Orleans Saints as a heavy favorite back on November 8.
Kornegay said that the Patriots’ 23-17 win over the Ravens on November 15 was also a hugely profitable result for the SuperBook.
Win Rate Made up for Dip in Handle
Sportsbooks in Nevada generated $609.5 million in cumulative handle, which was a 7.5 percent dip from the record handle of $659.2 million set in October. However, the dip in handle was more than negated by the sportsbooks’ phenomenal win rate of 10.14 percent. That was the highest win rate for Nevada sportsbooks since an 11.28 percent win rate in August of 2017.
The total of $61.8 million in gross gaming revenue nearly doubled the sportsbooks’ total of $31 million in GGR generated in November of last year. It also marked an incredible 45.8 percent increase on the total GGR generated in October ($42.4 million). Nevada collected just over $4 million in taxes off of that total gross gaming revenue, which is a new record in the post-PASPA era.
PASPA, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, was the legislation struck down by the US Supreme Court in 2018 that effectively allowed states to decide for themselves whether to legalize and regulate sports betting.
Since June of 2018, when New Jersey and Delaware became the first states outside of Nevada to offer fully legalized sports betting, jurisdictions around the US have accrued a cumulative sports betting handle of over $35 billion.
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
