When I received the assignment to write about the state of Las Vegas sports books, I’d never wagered on sports, aside from taking part in a few low-stakes fantasy football leagues. So, I sparked preliminary research by placing a simple $50 bet on my hometown Chicago Bears to defeat the Los Angeles Rams at home in the NFL playoffs.

As you’re probably aware, despite an otherworldly late throw from Caleb Williams to force overtime, my first real bet ultimately resulted in a loss.

Though I’m new to this world, I do have one thing in common with recently retired Las Vegas bookmaking legend Jimmy Vaccaro. He, too, remembers a time when the Monsters of the Midway lost him some money, recalling when rookie William “The Refrigerator” Perry, a 335-pound defensive tackle, was inserted on offense and scored a miraculously unlikely goal-line touchdown in Super Bowl XX in 1986. 

That moment—largely credited for birthing the modern proposition bet, a wager placed on a more specific outcome than a simple point spread or final score—was one of many pivotal shifts in sports book history that Vaccaro witnessed throughout his 50-year career.

But the most impactful change came when the U.S. Supreme Court ended Nevada’s monopoly over the sports book market in a 2018 ruling that allowed other states to legalize sports betting. Thirty-seven states have since joined the fold, with most relying almost exclusively on the rapid rise of the mobile sports betting app market.

Nevada was the only legal sports betting hub in the country for 70 years, and now accounts for just 4% of the national total.

When Vaccaro retired from his role as oddsmaker at South Point last year, the Sports Gambling Hall of Famer left a field that was entirely different from the one he entered in 1975.

“The difference now is that it’s just so much more marketing—bet $20 if you win, and you get $500, things like that,” he says. “You never saw that at the beginning, but it’s just the way the world is now.”

Downtown Las Vegas casino magnate Derek Stevens launched Circa Sports in 2019 as the new betting landscape was still unfolding. But despite concerns that Vegas would flounder amid all the new competition, he’s found that it’s only made the pie bigger.

“The proliferation of sports betting throughout the country has been positive for Vegas. It’s not that it’s taken anything away, it’s just gotten more people interested in it and enhanced the volume of sports betting here,” he says.

The numbers back his claims. According to data from UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research, bettors wagered an average of more than $8 billion annually on sports in Nevada from 2021 to 2024—nearly $7 billion more than in 1986 and almost doubling the numbers from a decade ago. The state pulled in over $528 million in sports gaming revenue through November 2025, or a 13% year-over-year increase. 

Mobile betting now comprises more than two-thirds of Nevada’s total sports gambling revenue, but the state has also maintained the traditional sports book experience better than any of the new markets. 

Through it all, Stevens’ team successfully navigated these changes by creating their own mobile wagering app system without sacrificing the physical sports book model. And they did it in the most Vegas way possible, by enhancing the spectacle and experience.

Circa’s flagship Downtown sports book features a 78 million-pixel, three-story screen and 350 theater-style seats—a far cry from Stardust’s six screens that revolutionized the industry after Vaccaro started working there in 1976. 

“What you’re going to see going forward is that the physical sports book is going to have to be something bigger, better and more dramatic to be useful,” Stevens says. “Anyone that’s a decent size is using their phone, and the people at the brick and mortar locations are usually coming to hang out in larger groups. More of them want to have wagers on multiple games, which means you really need to have a substantial, flexible screen.”

With that said, he believes “small retail sports books” are on their way out. 

“You’re not going to see hundreds of them throughout the state anymore. I think those days are over,” Stevens says. “The remaining brick and mortar sports books—because of the cost of operating them—will be fewer, but they will be of higher quality.”

John Murray, vice president of race and sports at Westgate, agrees. 

“Sports betting used to be this thing that would be hiding in the shadows, but that’s definitely not the case anymore. Most people can now do it in their home state, so it’s not so foreign to them when they come here,” Murray says. “Now, it’s becoming less and less about putting pencil and paper when you’re setting the lines, and much more about who’s got the best technology and the most aggressive marketing and giveaway plans to acquire the customers.”

The day-to-day customers Murray formed relationships with when he got his start in 2007 may come in less frequently, but big events like the Super Bowl and March Madness have taken a heightened importance.

The NFL still dominates the scene, representing 66% of Nevada’s total non-mobile sports betting wins in November. But the rapid growth of other sports like hockey—which he credits locally to the Golden Knights’ success—and the rise of complex parlays has added new variables to the mix. 

“I hate to say this, but there was a time when getting the hockey games on wasn’t really a big priority, but more of an afterthought. The pecking order was so much more college and pro basketball,” Murray says. “We feature hockey a lot more now, but I haven’t seen a change with the Raiders, to be honest. The NFL is already so overwhelmingly popular that it’s almost like it doesn’t even matter where these teams play.”

While marquee events draw more tourists, he estimates that around 80% of Westgate’s customers are still locals. Rewarding them for their loyalty is still a big part of the business. 

“Regardless of what your technology advantages are, you’ve got to remember that the customers have a lot of options. They really value you taking the time to talk to them, hear them out or say hello,” Murray says. “They have a lot of places they can choose to go to, and you need to be going out of your way to not just find new business, but also maintain your old business.”

In addition to Circa and Westgate, other prominent modern physical sports books include Station Casinos—which operates 19 locations geared toward locals but notably opened its first Strip entry of STN Sports at Treasure Island last April—and South Point, which remains the only Valley sports book that stays open 24/7. 

Vaccaro was instrumental in developing the South Point’s book until he retired last year. Even in this new era, he says the foundational element of giving the customer what they want is still paramount.

“If the public didn’t buy in, there would be no sports books here,” he says. “And as long as the public keeps buying it, it’ll only keep getting bigger and bigger. I feel pretty good about that.”

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