Question of the Day - 24 August 2025

Shelley Newell of the Nevada Gaming Control Board shared handle numbers with us. Rather than go through every month, we can take a snapshot by looking at the football-rich month of December. 

In 2018, soon after the Bradley Act (a.k.a. PASPA) was voided, Nevada sports betting handle in December was $562 million. That was an increase of $67 million over December 2017. At that time, the Silver State’s only competitor was New Jersey, although other states would soon be in the picture.

In December 2019, the handle was still growing, to $571.5 million, but the rate of growth had slowed dramatically, as handle was up only $9.6 million.

A year later, sports betting in Nevada was still booming, hitting $588.5 million, up $17 million.

By the fall and winter of 2021, handle in Nevada was routinely above $1 billion a month and December ’21 saw it explode by $425 million. Not until 2022 did neighboring and rival states appear to make inroads in sports betting. The Nevada handle in 2021 subsided to a $880.5 million, as the volume dropped $133 million from the year before.

Handle slumped another $37 million in December 2023, although the declivity is not nearly as bad as in adjacent October (-$105 million) and January (-$153 million).

Last year, handle slid $44 million, reaching $821 million.

So the glass is either half-full or half-empty. Yes, Nevada is palpably and, we think, inarguably losing business to other states. With 38 states and the District of Columbia all vying for pieces of the pie, it’s inevitable.

However, the volume of betting is still hundreds of millions of dollars better than it was at the time of PASPA. As legitimized sports betting has spread across the continent, so has the amount of participation. Bettors are turning away from the black markets, although not as much or as fast as many would like. Also, fueled by team sponsorships and inescapable advertising, sports betting has permeated the American contests. 

Nevada may no longer be the American capital of sports wagering, having been usurped by New Jersey and New York. But it's still making a fat wad of dough off it and we suspect the sports book bosses in Nevada aren’t complaining.