While March is usually a profitable time for sportsbooks around the US, the situations were dire this time. After casino shutdowns and lack of credible sporting activity, the Nevada sportsbook is reporting a 76% drop in their betting handles.

Sporting activity grinds to a halt

As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the US economy, sporting activities came to a halt. Several states asked nonessential businesses to shut down, which included casinos. The double whammy hit sportsbooks hard, taking away a major chunk of their handle. The Nevada Gaming Control Board suggested recently that their sportsbooks witnessed a massive 76% drop in the betting handle.

In March, only $141.2 million was bet at sportsbooks, which is the smallest figure since 1993 when the sportsbooks had a net win of just $1.45 million. Last year, sportsbooks made a record of $596.7 million in March. An estimated 67% of the bets were placed online. The month usually brings good results because of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament alongside NBA, MLB, and NHL games.

Other states suffer too

Nevada is not the only state that suffered because of the lack of sporting events. Other prominent sports betting states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania had similar drops. In New Jersey, the betting revenue of the state dropped by 44% year-on-year to just $163 million. The nine Atlantic City casinos have registered losses of over 46%, marking the largest monthly decline in the region in the past 42 years. The last major drop in revenue that Atlantic City suffered was in November 2012, when it was hit by Hurricane Sandy and lost 28% revenue. Their sportsbooks lost 58% and received only $13 million with its limited options.

New Jersey casinos were also forced to shut down in the middle of March. Similar trends were seen in Indiana where casinos made just $98 million, marking a 55% yearly decline. Casinos in Michigan totaled just $57.4 million with a 59% decline while Maryland casinos won $69 million with a 58% yearly decline.

As the shutdowns continue, it is likely that Nevada will register new all-time lows in April.