In the first full month of legalized sports betting in New Jersey, $40.6m (£31.9m) was wagered at the state’s three casino facilities and two racetracks.
In May, a Supreme Court decision opened the door for all 50 states in the US to offer sports betting. Sports betting launched on June 14 in New Jersey and over $57m (£44.8m) in bets have already been taken in. More companies are expected to enter the expanding market in the future.
Breaking down the numbers
Most of the wagers for July were made at the Ocean Resort and Borgata casinos and the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park racetracks. Bally’s also offers sports betting but did not get started until July 30. Resorts Casino and Harrah’s got in on the action in August, so their numbers will not be available until September.
In July, the Meadowlands took in $1.35m (£1.06m) in bets, while Monmouth Park took in $856,280 (£673,336). Monmouth Park and the Ocean Resort Casino operate sportsbooks in partnership with William Hill.
The CEO of William Hill US, Joe Asher, said he is “thrilled with the early numbers at both Monmouth and Ocean. They are clearly exceeding our expectations of where we thought we would be at this early stage. There’s no doubt the New Jersey sports betting market has a lot of potential.”
Ocean Resort took in a little more than $1m (£786,350) for the month while the Borgata brought in only $562,830 (£442,581). With just two days of operation in July, Bally’s earned a little less than $18,000 (£14,154).
Sports betting generated $325,646 (£256,071) in taxes for the state in July. According to the figures provided by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the three casinos and two racetracks operating in July created gross sports betting revenue of $3.8m (£2.99m).
It is important to note that other wagers were placed during the month. Some bets that involve future outcomes won’t be paid out for months. For example, wagers on the winner of the Super Bowl are already being placed but will not be paid until the game takes place, which is months away.
Comparing nearby Delaware
New Jersey and Delaware were the first states to offer sports betting in the US after the SCOTUS ruling in May. The neighboring states offer the new option along with online poker and casino gaming, plus land-based casinos. In sports betting, New Jersey has already outperformed Delaware, which was expected. New Jersey has a much larger population of 9 million people, compared to Delaware’s less than 1 million.
For Delaware, data is slowly rolling in. According to VSO News, the Delaware Lottery reported that sports betting figures from June 25 to July 29 show that the amount wagered was over $8m (£6.3m).
During the 35-day time frame, gamblers won nearly $7.7m (£6.05m). Delaware Park was the most popular operator for sports betting, taking in more than $5.8m (£4.56m) of the over $8m in wagers.
More wagers are expected for the state in the coming months, when the NCAA and NFL football seasons begin. In Delaware, only three venues offer sports betting: Harrington Raceway, Dover Downs, and Delaware Park. Their gaming market is much smaller than New Jersey’s, so the lower numbers are expected, but the state is still doing well when considering that the industry is brand-new.
Once the August numbers come in for New Jersey, two more casinos will be in the mix, so the total will be five casinos and two racetracks. More are expected to enter the industry in the coming weeks and months, which should see the numbers skyrocket. It will be interesting to see just how much the state starts bringing in as more operators launch services.