Nevada sportsbooks look forward to Olympic betting but don’t expect windfall

Nevada casino sportsbooks will accept bets on the Olympic Games for the first time in 16 years when the Rio Summer Games get underway on Aug. 5.

In February 2015, Nevada gaming regulators gave their blessing to Olympic wagering, something the state’s sportsbooks used to offer until it was revoked in 2001 after Sen. John McCain decided that the ‘amateur’ Olympic athletes were being exploited by someone other than the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

UK sportsbooks have been offering Olympic betting markets for a while now, and the 2012 Summer Games in London performed better than bookies expected, although the books definitely benefited from the intense national interest that comes with hosting the event.

While Nevada books are indeed happy with their new/old toy, nobody expects it to be a Super Bowl-type windfall. Experts told the Los Angeles Times that statewide Olympic betting handle could range from $20m to $30m, which at its peak would represent less than 10% of what the books handled in the month of May.