Nevada sportsbooks roared back to life with the start of the NFL season in September — at least in terms of betting handle — as they claimed $54.3 million in revenue according to figures released Wednesday by the state’s Gaming Control Board.
While a top-15 figure revenue haul in the post-PASPA era for the Silver State, September’s total was down 32.8% from the record $80.9 million claimed last year when operators thumped the betting public. This September’s $791.6 million handle was up a modest 3.5% year-over-year, and in another example of how much football drives the market, it was 74% higher than August.
The statewide hold of 6.9%, however, was down more than 3.7 percentage points from a year ago, explaining the revenue decline. It was also the sixth straight month Nevada sportsbooks had a collective win rate of 6.8% or better. That has contributed to year-to-date revenue being up 8.4% at $401.7 million and outpacing the 3.2% bump in handle to $5.62 billion.
Nevada also joined New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Pennsylvania as the only states to surpass $3 billion in sports betting revenue in the post-PASPA era.
Across-the-board regression to mediocrity
It was apparent in the first weeks of the NFL season that operators nationwide were not going to match the lofty holds and revenue totals of last September, when the collective hold of 11.3% across the country ranked third overall at the time.
Couple that with the return of the wildly popular survivor and pick ’em contests that generate plenty of action on the Vegas Strip when it comes to NFL and college football wagering, and it is no surprise there was a notable regression to the norm that drove down overall revenue. Operators finished with a 6.7% hold on football wagers, down nearly 4.8 percentage points from a year ago.
While the books racked up $32.9 million in winnings, that was 41.1% lower compared to the $55.8 million accrued last year as handle ticked up 0.9% to $490.3 million. It was also the first time since 2020 the September hold on football wagers was below 7%.
Bettors also finally showed a pulse when it came to baseball wagering, keeping operators in check with a 6.5% hold — the lowest of any month in the regular season. That led to a 30.9% downturn in revenue at $9.2 million. Operators, though, had a robust spring and summer when it came to baseball: Their $110.6 million won from April through September was a 47.6% increase from the same span in 2024.
There was a record monthly handle of $125.5 million in the catch-all “other” category, which includes golf, tennis, soccer, MMA, and boxing in Nevada. The modest 7.2% win rate was 4.2 percentage points lower than last year, and the near-$9 million in winnings was down 13.9%.
Retail sports betting still lacking
Though the $259.8 million wagered in person in September was the second-highest total of 2025, it was also down 7.2% from last year. There has yet to be a year-over-year increase in monthly retail handle in the Silver State, and the $1.63 billion wagered through the first nine months of the year is down 14.1% from 2024.
Operators had a solid month with an 8.4% hold to claim $21.7 million in revenue, but the $134.1 million in winnings for the year are down 14.3%. Sportsbooks, though, will have a chance to close that gap in the final quarter of 2025 given they posted sub-4% holds in October and December last year.
Brick-and-mortar sportsbooks have accounted for one-third of the total $401.7 million in operator winning this year, which is tracking to be the lowest percentage since the Nevada Gaming Control Board began breaking out mobile betting statistics in 2020. The current low is 40.7% established last year.
