Crest of a wave
New Jersey has observed a year-over-year growth of 207% for sportsbooks in the state. Handle figures in New Jersey for the month of August look set to outstrip those of Nevada, with sportsbook figures in the Garden State showing triple the amount observed in August 2018.
Sportsbook revenue for August in New Jersey was $25.2m, which shows a substantial increase when compared to the $9.2m made in August 2018.
New Jersey flying high
It was in August 2018 that online sports betting launched in the state of New Jersey, with retail sportsbooks opening in July 2018. Over the past year, more and more online sportsbooks have opened, each attracting more interest in the sector. Bet365 launched its online platform at the end of August, followed by theScore in September.
the upward trajectory looks set to continue
The state’s sportsbooks are growing at a faster rate than initial expectations. More operators entered the market in September, and with the new NFL season beginning, the upward trajectory looks set to continue. This is in spite of neighbors Pennsylvania recently expanding online sports betting.
College football started back in August, and people placing NFL futures bets helped the sportsbook handle reach $293.6m in August. This is a 17% rise from July, when the handle was at the $251.3m mark.
people placing NFL futures bets helped the sportsbook handle reach $293.6m in August
The August handle and revenue figures have not yet been released by Nevada, but expectations are that New Jersey will have better figures.
Reasons for NJ’s success
Mobile sports betting clearly has been the main driver for this success in New Jersey. About 85% of all sports bets come through mobile sources. A lot of people from nearby states cross into New Jersey just to place bets on their mobile devices.
Since launching sports betting in June 2018, the handle has surpassed $3.8bn, and sportsbooks have seen revenues of almost $250m in that time. The state government has received tax revenue of almost $30m as a result.
Best-performing NJ sportsbooks
The FanDuel and PointsBet sportsbooks sit at the top of the rankings in terms of online market share in New Jersey, seeing gross revenue of $9.3m in August – a rise from $7.3m in July. The main rival is DraftKings, which saw $6.7m in revenue during August in comparison to $3.7m in July.
For the retail sportsbooks, the Meadowlands FanDuel sportsbook was on top with $2.6m gross revenue in August. Next in the ranking was Monmouth Park with almost $700,000, followed by the Borgata with $670,000.
New online casino records
It isn’t just the sports betting sector in New Jersey that is seeing massive success. The online casino and poker sector is also hitting new heights.
A new monthly revenue record was hit in August. This was almost the same sum as that generated in all of 2018. This sector saw total revenue of $41.1m during August. This is a rise on the previous record of $39.3m that was set in July.
There was a 66% rise year-on-year in August, with total revenue for the year to date nearing the $300m mark. Online casinos have given $6.2m in tax revenue so far this year, meaning that almost $230m in tax revenue has been generated since online casinos launched initially in November 2013.
The Golden Nugget online casino leads the market with $15m in revenue in August, followed by Resorts Digital with $7.5m.