COST OF ELIMINATING VEGAS NBA BETTING? JUST $6M: David Stern in the past has been adamant about not locating a NBA franchise in Las Vegas because of the local betting action on the games.
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Rovell: “It’s actually ridiculously easy to figure out, but I backed myself up by dialing up two sports book directors at reputable Las Vegas sports books. Sports betting is a $2 billion annual business and the NBA makes up about 10 percent of that, so that’s $200 million.
“The hold percentage, which is what the house wins, is about 3 percent of that, so that’s $6 million and that’s gross revenues before expenses. If you want to count the juice, you can pile on $20 million, but the two guys I spoke to said the $6 million was the more important figure.”
So in other words, for the cost of a backup small forward on the Atlanta Hawks, the NBA could eliminate local betting on league games.
Or a one-night payout at a Las Vegas strip club.
