After narrowly missing the billion-dollar mark on four different occasions in the past year, the Garden State has finally hit the mark with a $1.01 billion sports betting handle in September. 90% of the wagers were placed online.
New Jersey is now the first US State to garner a sports betting handle of over $1 billion in a single month after generating $1.01 billion in sports wagers in September. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement announced on Monday, marking a first for not only the Garden State but for the entire US sports betting industry.
Before the new billion-dollar milestone, the highest monthly handle recorded in USA’s sports betting sector still belonged to New Jersey, when it racked up $996.3 million worth of sports wagers in December 2020. As impressive as this performance is, it isn’t such a big surprise that New Jersey has finally seen a ten-figure monthly handle. Sports bettors in the state have previously spent over $930 million on sports wagers in November 2020 and January 2021. This means that NJ has been close to the billion-dollar mark three times in the last year before finally hitting the bull’s eye.
Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com network, voiced his opinion about New Jersey’s record-shattering performance in a statement saying:
Quote“The state’s gaming industry has seemingly run out of ways to surprise, but sportsbooks reaching $1 billion in monthly handle is a reminder that there is no gaming market in the US that is playing on New Jersey’s level. The relentless growth in online sports betting and casino gaming continues to lift the entire industry.”
Casey Clark, the senior vice president of the American Gaming Association (AGA), also shared a few words about the Garden State’s record in an interview with the Associated Press. She said:
Quote“New Jersey has always been a strong gaming market. Crossing the $1 billion handle mark in September is an impressive indicator of the appetite of New Jerseyans and Americans across the country who have embraced legal, regulated sports betting.”
Compared to the $748.6 million in sports wagers the Garden State generated for September 2020, last month’s billion-dollar handle experienced a 35.1% year-on-year jump. And on a month-over-month comparison, the September handle is 52.1% higher than the $664.7 million sportsbooks processed in August.
Online and Mobile Sports Betting Continue to Catapult NJ’s Performance
As expected, sports bettors in the Garden State preferred placing wagers via online and mobile sportsbooks. As a result, $918.4 million of the billion-plus handle in September came from bets placed on online and mobile sportsbooks, a figure that represents 90.8% of the entire handle. Of all the online and mobile sportsbooks, the FanDuel, PointsBet, and SuperBook combined sportsbook that operates under the Meadowland license led the internet sports betting pack with a $36.6 million handle.
Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, which studies the gambling industry, discussed Nevada’s internet-betting edge in a correspondence with the Associated Press. She said in part:
Quote“New Jersey reaped the benefit of being an early adopter of sports betting. By embracing mobile sportsbooks and making sports betting more accessible than even Nevada, New Jersey has now achieved an important milestone of more than $1 billion wagered on sports in a single month.”
On the flip side, retail sportsbooks garnered a total of $92.7 million in sports wagers last month, which is nearly double the $51.8 million that in-person sports bettors spent on wagers in August. For the land-based activity, the Meadowlands/FanDuel retail sportsbook led all other land-based sports betting facilities with revenue worth $4.7 million.
Looking at the Garden State’s performance from a sport-by-sport angle David Danzis, an analyst for PlayNJ.com, pointed out the massive role football wagers play for the sports betting market. He said:
Quote“Football wagering is vital in every state where sports betting is legal and necessary for sportsbooks to reach such heights. What’s most impressive is just how much New Jersey has evolved into a market with no equals. The Garden State’s 12 highest volume months happen to be the 12 highest volume months in US history. And all of them have come since August 2020.”
New Jersey Could Still Best its Current Record
With September’s stellar performance, sportsbooks in New Jersey have racked up $558.0 million in revenue from a $7.1 billion handle for the first nine months of 2021. This nine-month showing has already blown past the 2020 yearly performance when the state garnered $398.5 million in revenue from a $6 billion annual handle.
While the numbers have undoubtedly cemented the Garden State as the top dog of sports betting in the US, industry analysts argue that the performance hasn’t reached its ceiling yet. Ramsey, the PlayUSA.com Network analyst, remarked that there is still room for improvement for the Garden State, especially since there’s some untapped potential in sports like basketball. In his commentary, he added that:
Quote“As impressive as September was, New Jersey’s sports betting market hasn’t yet reached its ceiling. The NBA and college basketball seasons could really send wagering into another stratosphere in the coming months.”
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