Nevada's November Sports Betting Handle Hits Record High

The Nevada Gaming Control Board recently revealed that its sports betting industry generated $31 million in winnings and hit a record $614.1 million handle. This is the first time that any state’s sport betting industry has broken the $600 million mark in one month. Nevada’s previous record was in March 2019 with a handle of $596.8 million.

New Jersey sports betting generated $572.7 million, coming in at a respectable second. This is the second month in a row that the combined handle of Nevada and New Jersey surpassed the $1 billion mark.

Over the past 12 months, Nevada's sportsbooks have reported total winnings of $336.9 million, 15.8% more than the winnings of the previous 12 months. Its handle also increased from $4.93 billion in 2018 to $5.3 billion in 2019, approximately a 7.5% spike.

The most popular sport that is betted on is football, which was responsible for $22.5 million in winnings in November and a whopping $384.5 million of the handle. Basketball came in second with $166.6 million in handle. Baseball, hockey, MMA, and boxing also played significant roles in November’s earnings and handle.

Nevada vs. New Jersey

Nevada has a much stronger retail component than New Jersey because it requires in-person registration, while New Jersey does not. At the same time, mobile betting is growing in popularity across the states. In fact, in New Jersey, 86.5% of November’s bets were placed online. If Nevada continues to require in-person registration, there is a chance that New Jersey will be able to surpass it and become the state leader in sports betting.