New Jersey’s latest sports betting revenue report shows a massive 92% increase for September. Revenues increased from $96m (£72.8m) in August up to $184m (£140m) for September.
One of the main reasons for this growth was the opening of the American football season for colleges and the NFL.
Sports betting has been open for business in New Jersey since the middle of June. In that time, more than $336m (£255m) in revenues has come in. Net revenues after pay-outs to the customers are at about the 8% mark.
New Jersey challenged the federal ban on sports betting for many years. The Supreme Court ended this ban in May 2018. Atlantic City is seeing something of a revival in its fortunes since sports betting was introduced. It came when it was much needed because Atlantic City nearly went bankrupt in 2017.
There are nine casinos in the Atlantic City area; they brought in just over $272m (£206) in revenue for September.
New Jersey online gambling
Online gambling has also become more popular in the state. Five different online platforms are available. Their revenues increased by 26% for September, nearly reaching the $26m (£19.7m) mark.
New Jersey is second to Nevada in sports betting. Nevada saw $247m (£187m) worth of sports wagers during August, so New Jersey still has some way to go. The other states currently offering sports betting are Mississippi, West Virginia, and Delaware.
Several other states have passed sports betting bills but have yet to open any sportsbooks. In August, Mississippi saw almost $10m (£7.6m) in sports betting revenues as it was just getting off the ground. West Virginia took in about $5m (3.8m) from sports betting during August.
Breakdown of New Jersey sports betting
The opening of the football season was a catalyst for further growth in New Jersey’s sports betting revenues. Since June, $94m (£71.3m) has been bet on football and almost $119m (£90m) on baseball. Parlay bets, in which multiple contests are combined in a single bet, has accounted for almost $36m (£27.3m).
It is obvious that sports bettors prefer to place bets form the comfort of their own homes rather than traveling to a casino to do so. So far, $210m (£159m) has been wagered through online platforms instead of at a racetrack or a casino. This is out of a total revenue figure of $336m (£255). Numerous notable operators entered the space once New Jersey passed legalization.
Draft Kings offers sports betting on its Resorts Casino online platform, which had $8.5m (£6.4m) in revenue in September.
The Draft Kings traditional fantasy sports rival, FanDuel, operates the sportsbook at the Meadowlands Racetrack; it brought in about $7.2m (£5.5m) in sports wagers during this period. William Hill is a renowned bookmaker in Europe, and it operates the sportsbook at Monmouth Park, which saw revenues from sports betting of about $2.2m (£1.7m) during September.
The Borgata led the way in casino sports betting revenue with $2.5m (£1.9m), followed by the Ocean Resort with $1.3m (£1.0m) and the Golden Nugget with $1.1m (£.83m). Of course, the figures are not going to be extremely precise, because many people place long-term bets. This could be a bet on who will win the Super Bowl or the Masters Tournament in 2019, for example.
What does the future hold?
It looks likely that the trend favoring sports betting through online platforms will continue. A lot more casual gamblers will start to place sports bets. These are people who don’t frequent casinos and don’t take part in any other forms of gambling.
With the NBA and NHL also readying for action, there is more hype and excitement to come. Operators in New Jersey will feel like they are just getting warmed up.
They will continue to fine-tune their offerings and iron out any kinks that come with starting up a new operation. For example, there was a technical error with the FanDuel sportsbook. A computer error led to massive odds being given to a certain selection and numerous bettors won significant sums of money as a result. FanDuel initially refused to honor these bets, but after a lot of negative press, they caved in and paid out in full.
More sportsbooks will open and more extensive marketing campaigns will roll out as the operators become more comfortable offering sports betting in New Jersey.