Most of you probably already know that a sportsbook is a place that allows people to gamble or place bets on various types of sporting events. This could include any number of sports including basketball, golf, baseball, football, horse racing, soccer, boxing, greyhound racing, mixed martial arts, and many others, as well. After placing bets on a sporting game or event, you may win money. The more you bet, the bigger the win could be. However, the question remains – how much do sportsbooks make?
Nevada Gaming Control Board
Learning about how much do vegas sportsbooks make a year starts with finding out more about how sportsbooks work. There are legal sportsbooks in Nevada. The Nevada Gaming Control Board keeps track of the amount of money sportsbooks in the state make and how much money comes in as a profit. Based on information from 2005 to 2014, you can get a pretty good idea of how much money people bet on sporting events, what sports events people place bets on, and how much the sportsbooks make in profit.
Steady Increase in Bets
In order to better understand how much sportsbooks make, it is essential to know that since 2005, all years except 2008-2009, have seen a steady increase in the number of bets placed. The amount bet is called the handle. The reason there was thought to be a decrease from 2008 to 2009 is because of an economic crisis. With this being said, even with the lower bets those years, the average yearly from 2005 to 2014 was $3.36 billion.
There are profits being made by sportsbooks, as well. On average, from 2005 to 2014
Sportsbooks in Nevada have seen annual average profits of $236.81 million per year.
Another thing that you must understand to see how much do sportsbooks make a year is the hold. This is the winning percentage compared to how much money was bet in total. Basically, this means the amount of money that is held once all bets have been settled. In Nevada, average holds from 2005 to 2014 were 7.13%.
Now that you have a better idea on the increase in bets, profits made overall, and what holds are, you can find out more about what specific sports bring in the most profits for sportsbooks.
Yearly Sportsbook Profits
When looking into how much do sportsbooks make, the Nevada Gaming Control Board stated there were profits of $202.5 million during 2009 which was the lowest from 2005 to 2014. They also reported a whopping $288.01 million in profits during 2006. This just gives you an idea of how much money sportsbooks rake in throughout each year.
Breaking It Up by Wager Type and Sports
You may also be curious to know how much do vegas sportsbooks make a year for each wager type or sport. If this is something you have been thinking about, you may be shocked at how much profit sportsbooks actually bring in every year.
For football wagers, sportsbooks make the most profit. This doesn’t really come as a surprise considering the massive amount of football fans there are. With this being said, around 25-30% of sportsbook profits come from football. From 2005 to 2014, the profits range from $39.28 million to $113.73 million.
For basketball wagers, the profits don’t fall that far below those that football bets bring in. From 2005 to 2014, the sportsbook profits range from $37.45 million to $54.24 million.
For baseball wagers, the sportsbook profits don’t come nearly as high as football or basketball. This is because betting on baseball games isn’t as common as it is with those sports. With this being said, between 2005 to 2014 the sportsbook recorded profits were between $19.64 million to $30.11 million.
For parlays, the profits are lower because not as many people use these bets. This is mainly because they are a long-shot to win. However, between 2005 to 2014, sportsbook profits recorded between $13.58 million to $21.28 million in parlays.
For racebooks, the results for profits are significantly high, even more than the other sports just mentioned. Between 2005 to 2014, racebooks recorded profits between $51.95 million to $99.33 million.
As you can see, vegas sportsbooks make a lot per year. This is the main reason why they aren’t shutting or closing down any time in the near future. As long as people enjoy betting on sports, there are plenty of reasons for sportsbooks to stick around (profits being one of those reasons).
Conclusion
If you have been wanting to know how much do vegas sportsbooks make a year, now you have a clearer idea. The profits rank in the millions for each sport and in the billions when it is all combined together.
Betting on sports has long been a passion for millions of people. Some people will bet thousands of dollars on any one given sporting event. Then, they may do the same thing for every sporting event they will be watching throughout the season. Whether they enjoy football, basketball, horse racing, or any other sport, betting is exciting and fun. While not everyone wins, of course, they still continue to bet.
Sports betting is a historical activity. It has been going on for many years. People who bet on sports can win or lose a lot of money. It is addictive and exciting. One of the many reasons why sportsbooks make so much money is because those who lose try to win their money back. This causes them to place an even bigger bet, hoping to gain some profits themselves.
If you plan to bet on sports, keep in mind that it is best to have a strategy. The better strategy you have, the better chances you have of winning and the lower the profits will be for the sportsbook. Choose your preferred sport (or more than one if you prefer) and start betting today.
