Nevada Sees Sports Betting Handle and Revenue Rebound in March

The Silver State took a rough February on the chin and rebounded with a strong March, reporting over $800 million in wagers taken in during the last month.

After an industry-wide drop in legal sports betting action during February, March saw strong numbers around the country, and Nevada was no different.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Tuesday that the Silver State’s online sports betting sites and brick-and-mortar locations accepted $829.8 million, a 25.8% jump from the $659.4 in bets from February. March Madness still fell well short of the NFL's playoff-filled January and its $936.5 million handle.

Compared to last year, this month was a mixed bag. Handle was down 3.8% year over year but revenue was up 18.8%. This was undoubtedly thanks to some bad luck for the bettors as the hold percentage increased from 4.2% in March 2022 to 5.2% last month.

With nonstop all-day action from March Madness, the percentage of mobile bets increase from 61% in February to 64.1%. The $531.7 in online bets, while large, was 8.7% lower than in March 2022.

Basketball stays king of the court

The NCAA tournaments, not surprisingly, played a large role in Nevada sports betting during March. Nevada sportsbooks won more from basketball last month than all other sports combined, with the sports win percentage at 6.8%.

However, it was hockey that enjoyed the highest win percentage for the operators, at 7.9%. And in the past 12 months, hockey was a close second to football as the toughest sport to win in — with a 5.6% win rate.

March also saw the opening of the MLB season and the entire World Baseball Classic, and it was baseball that saw some of the best luck from bettors. Sportsbooks held just .3% of their wagers