Later this month, Nevada's gaming commission will weigh a proposal that would allow the state's sports books to start taking wagers on the Olympic Games.
The move could prove profitable in this state, where bettors waged nearly $116 million on this year's Super Bowl. It's the second year in a row Super Bowl betting has eclipsed $100 million in Nevada, and it gets the industry off to a hot start following a record-setting 2014.
With that momentum behind them, sports books in the Silver State are looking to increase their handles. But as it stands now, betting on the Olympics is prohibited in Nevada, as it's labeled an amateur non-collegiate event.
Jimmy Vaccaro of South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa, which brought the proposal to the gaming commission, says that puts them at a competitive disadvantage.
"Like every industry in the world, you've got to keep improving your product or you lose out in the end," Vaccaro says. "And you can bet the Olympics in the rest of the world."
The rest of the world may be a bit of an over statement, but it is true that you can bet on Olympic events in many other places such as England and Macau. And it is somewhat lucrative.
"And it's something which I won't pretend to you is at the very top of our betting turnover lists," says Graham Sharpe of William Hill PLC, a British-owned sports book. "But each four years when it comes around, it's really a big deal in the media and therefore, it's a big deal with our customers."
That would likely be the case in Nevada too, where sports bettors waged about $3.9 billion overall in 2014. Nearly half of that was bet on football. Basketball was next, followed by baseball.
Other sports — boxing, hockey and soccer — like most Olympic events, made up less than 10 percent of bets. And that was with a significant boost from the World Cup.
Sports books, regulators and analysts say they don't expect that to change if regulators allow bettors to start placing wages on the Olympics.
"I think it's more of an attraction to keep people in the casino and keep them from going somewhere else to bet on sports," says David Schwartz, director of the University of Nevada Las Vegas's Center for Gaming Research.
This would be especially true for the Summer Olympics, which falls in that gap between basketball season and football.
But will regulators actually allow the change?
The proposal has already cleared the first hurdle. It's been approved by the Nevada State Gaming Control Board and passed on to the state's gaming commission.
Quinton Singleton, the legal counsel for CG Technology, a company that operates a handful of Nevada sports books, says that regulators were given a chance to examine some potential hiccups in that first stage. For example, they had to consider how they would regulate wagering on new sports that are more subjective than objective.
"Basketball is pretty objective whether you made the basket, or you didn't," Singleton says.
As opposed to something like figure skating, where "you have judges saying, 'I like this one better,' versus, 'I like that one better,' " he adds. "So, there's a lot of supplemental judgment that goes into determining whether someone won or not."
Still regulators like A.G. Burnett, chairman of the state's control board, say they're familiar with watching wagers on subjective sports because of events like boxing or MMA.
"And we still always, as regulators, have the right to say no to some of those if we just don't feel like it's an appropriate betting activity," Burnett says.
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Transcript
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Back in this country, some in the gaming industry are on a roll. In Nevada, people wagered nearly $116 million on the Super Bowl. It's the second year in a row that the Super Bowl betting has topped $100 million in that state. This hot start for the industry in Nevada follows a record-setting 2014 and, no surprise, sportsbooks in the state want to double down, which means finding new betting opportunities, like, say, the Olympics. Here's NPR's Nathan Rott.
(SOUNDBITE OF LEO ARNAUD SONG, "BUGLER'S DREAM")
NATHAN ROTT, BYLINE: Yes, you, Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt fans...
(SOUNDBITE OF LEO ARNAUD SONG, "BUGLER'S DREAM")
ROTT: ....Later this month, Nevada's gaming commission will weigh a proposal that would allow the state's sportsbooks to start taking wagers on the Olympic Games - Winter Olympics, Summer Olympics, soccer, gymnastics.
JIMMY VACCARO: Yeah, all the Olympic sports.
ROTT: Jimmy Vaccaro is with South Point Hotel and Casino, which proposed the change to Nevada's gaming regulators. As it stands now, betting on the Olympics is prohibited in the state as it's labeled an amateur non-collegiate event. Vaccaro says that puts them at a competitive disadvantage.
VACCARO: Like every industry in the world, you got to keep improving your product or you lose out in the end. And you can bet the Olympics in the rest of the world.
ROTT: The rest of the world may be a bit of an overstatement, but it is true that you can bet on Olympic events in many other places, such as England and Macau. And it is somewhat lucrative. Graham Sharpe is with William Hill PLC, a British-owned sportsbook.
GRAHAM SHARPE: And it's something which I won't pretend to you is at the very top of our betting turnover lists, but each four years, when it comes around, it's clearly a big deal in the media and, therefore, it's a big deal with our customers.
ROTT: That would likely be the case in Nevada, too. Sports betters wagered about $3.9 billion in Nevada in 2014. Nearly half of that was bet on football. Basketball was next, followed by baseball. Other sports - boxing, hockey, soccer - like most Olympic events, made up less than 10 percent and that was with the significant boost from the World Cup. Sportsbooks regulators and analysts like David Schwartz of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Center for Gaming Research don't expect that to change if regulators allow betters to start placing wagers on the Olympics.
DAVID SCHWARTZ: I think it's more of an attraction to keep people in the casino and keep them from going someplace else to bet on sports.
ROTT: Especially for the Summer Olympics in that gap between basketball season and football. The question is, will regulators allow that change? Well, the proposal has already cleared the first hurdle - getting approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board and passed on to the state's gaming commission. Quinton Singleton is a legal counsel for CG Technologies, a company that operates a handful of Nevada sportsbooks. And he says that regulators were given a chance to examine some potential hiccups in that first stage, like how you'd regulate wagering on new sports that are more subjective than objective.
QUINTON SINGLETON: Basketball is pretty objective - whether you made the basket or you didn't.
ROTT: As opposed to something like figure skating.
SINGLETON: You have judges saying, I like this one better versus I like that one better, so there's a lot of supplemental judgment that goes into determining whether someone won or not.
ROTT: Still, regulators like A.G. Burnett, chairman of the state's control board, say they're familiar with watching wagers on those types of subjective sports because of events like boxing or MMA.
A.G. BURNETT: And we still always, as regulators, have the right to say no to some of those if we just don't feel that it's an appropriate betting activity.
ROTT: The state's gaming commission is scheduled to look at the regulatory change at the end of this month. Nathan Rott, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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