New Jersey Sports Betting In January 2019: By The Numbers

The growth of sports betting in New Jersey continued into January 2019 and was bolstered by a slate of NFL Playoffs games leading up to Super Bow LIII. It may not be that long until New Jersey passes by Nevada in terms of amount of sports wagers per month.

On February 13, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released its latest figures, detailing the amount in wagers placed in January 2019 as well as the revenues actually retained by the sportsbooks. The number that is first to stand out is the amount of wagers placed at $385.3 million.

The next figure that catches the eye is that $305 million of the total amount wagered on sports was placed through online/mobile means. Yes, roughly 80% of the bets made were not completed in person, at a land-based casino. I recently discussed my thoughts on why states like Kansas, currently considering legislation that would legalize and regulate sports betting, should not be swayed by lobbyists to limit sports wagering to retail casino operators.

Importantly, the sports betting operators turned a profit in January. They collectively held $18.8 million. That comes out to a hold of roughly 5% of the amount of money actually wagered, which is what the industry expects as an average month-by-month, with some months even going negative. There is no guarantee that a sportsbook will have a positive hold in any given month.

The operators that easily benefitted the most in New Jersey, and which are running away with most of the customers in the state, were DraftKings and FanDuel, each in partnership with existing casino licensees. In partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel, DraftKings had $6.9 million in revenue while FanDuel, in partnership with Meadowlands, earned $7 million in revenue. Together, the behemoths of the daily fantasy sports world, turned sports betting operators, were responsible for roughly 74% of the revenues received by sportsbooks in New Jersey in the month of January.