New Jersey saw a huge surge in sports betting handle and revenue once football season started in 2018. But even as the sport wound down in January, the books retained their brisk business.
More than $385 million was bet in January 2019, a record number for the Garden State. Revenue dropped from $20.2 million in December to $18.8 million. Since the start of football in September, books have taken over $1.48 billion in total handle.
Basketball is the new king
Basketball took over as the most bet sport in NJ. Over $135 million in handle went on hoops, both the NBA and college, in January. Football handle fell to $82 million, behind the “other” sports category (hockey, tennis, MMA, etc.) which took over $92 million for the month.
“What we have realized, in January and February, is that bettors in New Jersey aren’t just interested in football,” said Mattias Stetz, C.O.O Rush Street Interactive, which operates PlaySugarHouse.com.
“While individual games get quite a bit less handle than NFL games, the advantage to other sports is that there are so many more games played. For example, in basketball, NBA teams play 82 games and college teams play at least 30, resulting in many thousands of betting events during the season. The key for us at PlaySugarHouse.com is making sure we offer as many sports and leagues as possible, including live betting, so there is always something interesting happening on our site.”
Breaking down the numbers
January also saw the gap widen between money bet online and in-person. Nearly 80% of handle came through online, the largest share of the pie since online gaming began in August.
Just as the online market maintained its dominance, so did the two biggest books in the sphere. FanDuel Sportsbook led all outlets with over $7 million in revenue for the month, edging out Resorts, which earned over $6.89 million. Resorts just added a book to their online casino, joining their partnerships with DraftKings Sportsbook and BetStars.
FanDuel released this statement on Wednesday:
“FanDuel Sportsbook started the year very strongly, maintaining its market-leading position in the state. More than half New Jersey’s total handle in January across both retail and online channels was generated by the FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook’s online revenue also increased for the fourth month in a row. It was another great month for bettors with College Bowl season and the NFL Playoffs, and the first month where customers had access to live in-app streaming of the Australian Open.”
FanDuel’s retail location at the Meadowlands remains the most active physical location in the state, earning over $1.17 million in revenue for January. Monmouth Park was second in revenue at over $830,000. Monmouth Park’s two online books, PlaySugarHouse and William Hill, drew a combined $1.17 million for the month.
The only other location in the state that drew over a million was Ocean Resort in Atlantic City. However, all that came from the William Hill online book. The Boardwalk location actually lost over $14,000.
The highest drawing location down the shore was Borgata, which earned over $635,000 at its book on the marina and just under $42,000 through the PlayMGM app. Bally’s finished second for physical revenue with over $236,000 at its locations across AC while getting over $260,000 through online books via 888sport and CaesarsCasino.com.
Hard Rock launched its first venture into sports betting in January. The online sportsbook earned just over $25,000 for the month.
