Thanks to the heavily-hyped and heavily-bet Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight, Nevada sportsbooks pulled an August record profit (hold) of $33.9 million. The Nevada Control Board Gaming Commission (GCB) released its monthly report on Friday showing the impact of the August, 26 bout at the T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas strip.
“$33.9 million is an all-time record for sports pool win during the month of August,” GCP senior research analyst Michael Lawton told SportsHandle on Friday. “The previous August record was August 2013 at $14.3 million. Our estimate has the fight generating $65.0 million” in wagers.
Nevada Sportsbooks Saw a Huge August Hold and Also a Big Handle
The books won 11.3% in August on a total $301 million handle for all sports betting. In July the books took just 0.24% of $218 for a $524,000 win, largely attributable to a tough month in baseball. The $65 million on the fight is a bit lower than some unofficial estimates of $85 million that floated around after the bout, but still represents a tremendous handle, equal to about half the amount wagered on Super Bowl LI between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.
The boxing handle and hold is not parsed out separately in the report. It’s combined in an “other” category with a variety of sports including mixed martial arts and tennis, among others.
As for Mayweather-McGregor: a real fight broke out at the spectacle when the 29-year-old McGregor, who had never before competed in a professional boxing match, proved a much more formidable opponent for the undefeated Mayweather than (many) expected. The South Point in Las Vegas opened in February with McGregor as a 27-1 underdog. Nevertheless, a high volume of more recreational bettors drove the line down to about 5-1, putting the books in Mayweather’s corner.
The oddsmakers probably wiggled in their seats a bit as McGregor landed some good punches in the first few rounds as Mayweather felt out the UFC star. But then the seasoned veteran began to pound the Irishman, who looked and later admitted he was quite fatigued. Referee Robert Byrd stopped the fight in the 10th round, giving Mayweather a TKO victory. So in the end, “Money” Mayweather showed the books the money and he upped his record to a pristine 50-0 in perhaps his last professional fight. (He said after the match he’s retired).
The sportsbooks did well in August on baseball and football, too, winning $8.6 million on the diamond and $6.6 million on the gridiron. And as we head to the end of September, the books just scored very nicely in Week 3 of the NFL season as underdogs finished 11-5. Here’s your primer on Week 4.
