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Sportsbooks By The Numbers

November 12, 2012 at 5:17 PM | by | Comment (1)

Even if we don't always know what to do with the numbers, we love data. Obviously, we love Las Vegas. Because of these loves, we follow UNLV's Center For Gaming Research closely. They release a lot of data-driven information on casinos and gambling that we gobble up like Halloween candy. The main difference is that the data from UNLV doesn't make us sick.

Last week, the Center for Gaming Research published a report detailing sports betting information in Nevada from 1984 through 2011. This was one of their more brief reports and it was almost entirely data leaving the interpretation to us. Here are some highlights about the business at sportsbooks:

Total amount bet on sports in Nevada since 1984: $57,274,051,000 ($57.3 billion)
Total amount won by Nevada sports books since 1984: $2,613,725,000 ($2.6 billion)

Total amount won on football bets since 1989: $963,673,000 ($963.7 million)
Total amount won on basketball bets since 1989: $620,128,000 ($620.1 million)
Total amount won on baseball bets since 1989: $317,184,000 ($317.2 million)

Overall casino win percentage on sports betting since 1984: 4.56%
Average casino win percentage on football since 1992: 4.53%
Average casino win percentage on basketball since 1992: 4.69%
Average casino win percentage on baseball since 1992: 3.01%

From this data we can quickly takeaway that baseball is the least profitable sport for sportsbooks. That would make it the most profitable sport for us to bet on. Point noted. Another takeaway is that sportsbooks may take in a lot of money, $57 billion over the past 27 years, but they only win a small portion of that money with $2.6 billion over the same period.

The gross amount of money bet and the amount of money the casinos win has increased over the years and will continue to increase with new innovations to sports betting by sportsbooks like Cantor Gaming.

Sportsbooks have never been a big money maker for the casinos. Like poker rooms, they're seen as an amenity for guests more than a profit driver. This is why we're seeing more sportsbooks being outsourced and/or amenities cut. As long as we have big TVs and comfy chairs, we're cool.

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#'s for the big 3 don't say BB is necessarily best

 Maybe I'm missing something here but

FB and BkB are almost always bet ATS, while BB is almost always ML.

 BB only gets bets where your team is still showing odds worth betting, & haven't become too fav to scrap it. Moved odds don't change my pick.

 FB and BkB will have people bet either team, as it doesn't matter who wins, only if the spread is met. Moved line will change my pick.

Volume will always be much higher on FB and BkB. More volume - more juice.

x4mer on November 12, 2012 at 10:15 PM #Permalink

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