Sports betting is increasingly online. Why is Nevada still tied to in-person registration?
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By Howard Stutz — Nevada is the nation’s legacy sports betting state, even as its prominence in the national landscape has diminished as legal sports betting has spread to almost 40 states and Washington, D.C.
But the state hasn’t cashed in its chips.
Nevada sportsbooks have produced 12-month revenue records in each of the last four years, led by nearly $482.1 million in 2024. Through May, the state’s sportsbooks have collected $225.4 million in revenue, up almost 8 percent from a year ago.
However, that’s just a drop in the bucket nationally.
According to the American Gaming Association, nationwide sports betting revenue was $13.7 billion in 2024, a 25 percent increase from 2023. Through April, the overall figure is almost $5.1 billion, a nearly 11 percent increase from last year.
Analysts have predicted that if sports betting were legalized in either California or Texas — the two largest states without the activity — the sports betting landscape would be dramatically altered.
“California is the one [state] that can have the biggest impact on our growth long term,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said in April at an Indian Gaming conference in San Diego.
Nevada has traditionally been the bellwether for legal Super Bowl wagering. But that changed in February.
The state’s sportsbooks took in $151.6 million in wagers on Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, but the total was eclipsed by New Jersey ($168.7 million) and New York ($154.9 million). If it’s any consolation, Nevada’s sportsbooks set a single-year revenue record on the game, winning $22.1 million from customers.
Gaming consultant Steven Ruddock, author of the Straight to the Point newsletter, told The Nevada Independent in an email he initially thought Nevada would benefit from the broader legalization of sports betting “by creating a bigger pool of sports bettors and increasing sports betting tourism.”
However, he said the retail sports betting industry “has been an overall disappointment,” with several high-profile venues closing. Earlier this month, FanDuel announced plans to close its sportsbook at the PHX Arena in downtown Phoenix.
“As more bettors become comfortable with online betting, the appetite for sports betting vacations will continue to dwindle,” Ruddock said. “Couple that with rising costs, especially on The Strip, and Las Vegas as a sports betting destination is no longer quite as appealing.”
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According to sports betting experts, the primary challenge for Nevada’s sports betting industry going forward is the reluctance to modify state regulations requiring customers to register in person at a casino to activate a mobile sports betting account.
In almost all other states, remote registration is allowed for sports betting.
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming analyst Chris Krafcik, who has been following the growth of the legal sports betting market since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May 2018 that states could legalize and regulate sports betting, said it was “highly unlikely” Nevada’s in-person requirement would ever change.
“Online revenue growth will come primarily by way of product quality and hold margins — two areas in which Nevada badly lags in more competitive markets,” he said.
MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle said that he supported allowing remote registration for sports wagering customers during a discussion at IndyFest in 2021. But the company never pursued the effort.
Smaller casino operators have vehemently opposed any whiff of an effort to change the requirement, as they believe its elimination would advantage larger companies that operate in multiple states.
That’s why FanDuel and DraftKings — the nation’s two largest sportsbook operators — have remained on the sidelines rather than team up with a casino company to enter the state.
On the flip side, the requirement levels the playing field for independent operators. It’s one reason longtime gaming executive Joe Asher plans to launch Boomer’s Sportsbook — which will be Nevada’s only non-casino-owned sports betting operation — by the start of the fall football season.
The Gaming Control Board has tracked mobile wagering since 2020, and the activity averages roughly 65 percent of all Nevada sports bets monthly. In the past three months, however, mobile betting has averaged 74 percent of all wagers, including 78.1 percent in April.
No reason was suggested for the increase.
The sports betting arms of the Strip’s two largest casino companies, BetMGM (MGM Resorts International) and Caesars Sportsbook (Caesars Entertainment), operate in more than two dozen states where remote registration is allowed.
BetMGM and Caesars offer mobile wallets that allow customers to move from state to state and place sports wagers without having to open a new account. However, in Nevada, their out-of-state customers still have to register in person, even if they went through a registration process back home.
— This story is used with permission of The Nevada Independent. Go here for updates to this and other Nevada Independent stories.
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