Sports Betting Dips, But Nevada Gambling Thrives in April

Sports betting didn’t maintain its torrid pace in April, but the Nevada gaming industry still thrived.

The state notched its 14th consecutive month with over $1 billion in gambling revenue in April, beating pre-pandemic numbers by 20.5%.

Sports betting in the state, however, showed a marked drop from March, with the total handle declining 32.5% month-over-month to $582.5 million.

With the bulk of the NCAA basketball tournaments in March, Nevada wasn’t the only state to see its sports betting activity dip in April.

• In New York, mobile sports betting dropped 14.7% month-over-month in April to $1.4 billion.
• Sports betting in New Jersey slipped 23.9% month-over-month to $926.9 million in April.
• Those two states had the top April handle, followed by Pennsylvania ($572.8 million), Michigan ($396 million), and Indiana ($360 million). Those states saw respective declines of 19.9%, 17.2%, and 24.4% from March.

More States Coming

States are free to determine if and how people may bet on sports, and 31 states allow some form of the practice. Not all permit mobile sports betting, and Tennessee and Wyoming allow mobile but not retail sports betting.

Ohio, Maine, and Kansas are expected to launch sports betting later this year, and Maryland is on course to allow mobile betting.

California is likely to have at least one voter initiative to legalize sports betting on the ballot in November.