US Sports Betting Revenue Nov 2019: Nearly $2B In Legal Bets Placed

Sports Betting Revenue Nov 2019

November was a good month for legal US sports betting, with nearly $2 billion wagered and over $100 million in revenue generated in the legal markets.

Long deprived of legal betting options, US customers are flocking to the newly opened retail and online sportsbooks. These customers are a mixture of new bettors and movement from black market sportsbooks to legal books, and they’re producing some eye-catching numbers.

Handle Approaches $2 Billion

With ten of the 13 states reporting, collectively, $1.8 billion was wagered legally in the US during November. If we include the three states that don’t report handle numbers (New York, Arkansas, and New Mexico), the November total is closer to $2 billion.

That’s a 17% increase over October, a historically stronger month than November.

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Solid Revenue Numbers Continue

With 11 states reporting, sports betting revenue came in at just over $100 million for the month. That’s a 33% drop from October, but not unexpected considering the inconsistent nature of sports betting revenue.

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A Look at the US Sports Betting Leaders

Of the 13 states with legal sports betting industries, four have separated themselves.

They are:

  1. Nevada Sports Betting
  2. New Jersey Sports Betting
  3. Pennsylvania Sports Betting
  4. Indiana Sports Betting

In November, Nevada and New Jersey sportsbooks accounted for 63% of all wagers and 57% of revenue in the legal US sports betting market.

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Nevada

Nevada sports betting revenue is an interesting case study.

The longstanding fear that legalization would cut into its sports betting monopoly has proved unfounded. The truth is, Nevada has seen a significant rise in sports betting handle since legalization in other states. Rather than cannibalizing Nevada sportsbooks, new competition has benefited Nevada sports betting operators (more on this in a moment).

New Jersey

New Jersey’s handle and revenue numbers are on par with Nevada most months, but the Garden State seems to have found its ceiling.

More worrisome for New Jersey sports betting operators is the possibility of mobile betting coming to neighboring New York. That development would cut off a significant chunk of Empire State bettors who would no longer need to drive across the George Washington Bridge. More than likely that would result in New York blasting past Nevada as the top sports betting state (by volume) in the country and send New Jersey down the ladder.

Pennsylvania

With its industry maturing, and more online operators launching, Pennsylvania is rapidly gaining ground and establishing itself as a significant threat to Nevada’s throne. Standing in Pennsylvania’s way are its unfriendly policies from high tax rates to limitations on skins, but thus far, they have had far less an impact than initially anticipated.

Indiana

Indiana continues to be one of the country’s sports betting success stories, and a great example of the importance of getting sports betting policies right. The Hoosier State has settled into the number four spot with a healthy 8% market share and looks to be a great example for other states to follow.

Cannibalization Concerns Unfounded

As noted above, any concerns that legal sports betting would have a detrimental effect on Nevada haven’t come to fruition.

All the evidence indicates increased access in other states is beneficial to Nevada’s tourist-driven sports betting industry. That seems counterintuitive, but when it comes to gambling, more often than not, counterintuitive has proven itself to be the expected result.

How have Nevada sportsbooks benefited?

For sports betting, local access is creating more bettors, and some of those bettors were already visiting Las Vegas but not placing sports bets. Additionally, some of the new bettors are turning into destination bettors, and their destination of choice is Las Vegas.

A similar scenario unfolded around the poker boom in the early and mid-2000s. The expected result of online poker was decimating live poker venues. What ended up happening was the exact opposite. Online poker multiplied the number of avid poker players and led to a live poker boom in Las Vegas and across the country. And with poker, we’ve seen the boom and the bust. The number of poker venues in Las Vegas and across the country has been in steady decline since online poker was stripped away in 2011.

More Sports Betting States on the Way

In addition to the 13 states that are already up and running, seven more states are in the preparatory phase:

  1. Colorado Sports Betting: (Legalized November 2019)
  2. Illinois Sports Betting: (Legalized June 2019)
  3. Michigan Sports Betting: (Legalized December 2019)
  4. Montana Sports Betting: (Legalized May 2019)
  5. New Hampshire Sports Betting: (Legalized June 2019, launched December 30)
  6. North Carolina Sports Betting: (Legalized July 2019)
  7. Tennessee Sports Betting: (Legalized May 2019)

And plenty of other states have their sights set on joining them.

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