New Jersey Smashes its Own Sports Betting Record with a $748.6m Handle

Once again, New Jersey has hit an all-time monthly record handle for a US state in September after soaring to new heights with a total of 748.6 million in sports betting wagers. This smashing success was achieved thanks to a full month of NFL games under its belt, with the MLB, NHL, and NBA playoffs, along with the U.S. Open in tennis and golf also taking place last month as the sports betting industry continues to rise from the ashes of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released the official figures on Thursday, indicating that the handle was collected by the nine casinos in Atlantic City and the state’s three horse racing tracks that also offer sports betting services. This incredible $748.6 million total for sports wagers cruised past the previous $668 million record handle which incidentally was still set by New Jersey in August. At that time, the Garden State had nabbed the top spot after eclipsing the initial record high of $614 million that was set by Nevada for November 2019.

Revenue Breakdown for New Jersey’s Stellar Performance in September

From the $748 million worth of wagers that were collected in New Jersey for September, the casinos and tracks ended up keeping $45 million from the total handle, up 14.1% year on year, after paying off winning bets and other expenses. The September sports betting revenue also added $5.6 million to the state’s tax coffers.

East Rutherford’s Meadowlands Racetrack near New York continued to reign as champion of sports betting in the state after winning $28.1 million in revenue last month whereas Oceanport’s Monmouth Park Racetrack came second after collecting a revenue of nearly $3.5 million. And as expected, online sports betting continued to rule the market after accounting for 90.7% of the handle.

Aside from sports betting, the general gambling industry in New Jersey accrued revenue of about $323.2 million in September, realizing a 6.5% year over year increase. While the revenue increase isn’t higher by a significant margin, it is worth noting that casinos in the Garden State managed to garner that much while only taking in 25% of their usual floor occupancy capacity to abide by COVID-19 restrictions. Here’s how each casino faired last month in descending order, compared to September last year;

The Borgata brought in $64 million (-2.8%)
Golden Nugget collected $37.5 million (+16.3%)
Hard Rock garnered $35.8 million (+12.5%)
The Ocean Casino Resort earned $29.5 million (+22%)
The Tropicana won $26.1 million (-10%)
Harrah's raked in $19.5 million (+26.6%)
Caesars won $18.9 million (-1.8%)

James Plousis, the chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission expressed his delight in the pace of recovery for the revenue of casino gambling in the following statement;

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“Casino win was 85 percent of last September’s performance, aided by the reopening of casino restaurants on September 4, and the resumption of food and beverage service on casino floors,” he said. “These results were promising in the midst of continuing travel advisories that decrease visits from out of state, as well as restrictions on capacity, amenities, and entertainment that have made 2020 not reasonably comparable to last year.”

September’s revenue from internet gambling also recorded a significant improvement, after earning $87.6 million, which is 113% higher than the $41.1 million that the state’s gambling facilities generated over the same period in 2019.

A Fast-Growing Industry for the Garden State

So far in 2020, New Jersey has amassed over $3.28 billion from sports betting wagers, which in turn has generated $223.1 million in revenue for the state. This overall handle for the first 9 months of 2020 is higher than the $2.96 billion that was wagered over the same period in 2019.

The Garden State became the third state to legalize sports betting behind Nevada and Delaware after winning the SCOTUS case back in May 2018 which led to the repeal of PASPA, and all 50 states in the country were allowed to start offering regulated sports betting if they wished.

In the months that followed, NJ swiftly conquered the East Coast market, giving Nevada a run for its money as the national leader in the sports betting industry. Now, the Garden State holds the top two positions, in the ranking for the largest sports betting handles in the history of legal U.S. sports betting;