Nevada Sports Betting Handle Dips To $713 Million In September

The Nevada Gaming Commission reported $712.6 million in sports betting handle for September on Wednesday, as the start of the NFL season failed to ignite a surge in sportsbook wagering.

Action was down 10% from last year, marking the seventh time in 2026 that monthly handle was down year over year. Without the World Cup held across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in June and July, Nevada sportsbooks would likely face a larger year-to-date decline in handle than the current 4% entering the final quarter of the year.

The good news for Silver State operators was that revenue was nearly flat at $54.1 million, down only four-tenths of a percentage point, as the 7.6% hold was nearly three-quarters of a percentage point higher than last year. Revenue for the first nine months of the year is $403.6 million, up 0.5% from 2025.

Revenue for the rolling 12-month period, however, is 17.6% higher at $603.1 million. A strong fourth quarter supported that figure, when the house collected $199.7 million in winnings.

The state collected nearly $3.7 million in tax receipts for September, bringing the year-to-date total to $27.2 million. That is only $130,000 ahead of last year’s pace, an unsurprisingly small amount given the near non-existent revenue growth.

Nevada Retail Sportsbook Handle Continues to Lag

Despite the outsized social media attention Las Vegas-based survivor and pick‘em pools have generated in recent years, in-person sports wagering has fallen off dramatically in 2026. The late start to the pro and college football seasons is a caveat, but the 22.4% overall decline in September retail handle to $201.8 million, on the heels of a sub-$100 million handle for the first time since the COVID pandemic in August, is striking.

Again, though, strong operator performance obscured the handle plunge. Retail sportsbooks posted $23.1 million on an 11.4% hold, the best of 2026, as revenue ticked up 6.3%.

Nearly half of this year's $100.4 million in in-person betting revenue came in January and September. Overall, year-to-date revenue is also down 25% and not even halfway to the 2025 full-year total of $201.2 million.

Retail operator winnings are tracking to account for less than one-quarter of all Nevada sportsbook revenue, continuing a notable decline after barely topping one-third in 2025.

A Mixed Bag for the Big Sports

The first three weeks of the NFL and college football seasons were good for the house: $35.4 million in pro and college football revenue rose 7.7% from last year, despite handle slipping 16.6% to $409.1 million.

Another reason for soft overall revenue numbers in 2026 was a notable downturn in baseball wagering compared to last year. The $1.14 billion worth of accepted wagers from April through September was down 13.8% from 2025, and a slightly better performance by the betting public in 2026 pushed revenue down 15.9% to $88.7 million.

September, however, bucked the trend to some extent. Handle rose 9.3% to $155.5 million, while operator winnings rose 3.6% to $9.6 million from $9.3 million a year ago.

Revenue from the catch-all “other” category, which includes soccer, tennis, auto racing, boxing, and MMA in Nevada, slid 17.3% to $7.4 million as the house attained a 6.4% win rate against $116.1 million handle.