Sports Betting in New Jersey is still not back to its heady days of February and its ongoing month-on-month betting handle and revenue increases, following the shutdown of world sporting action. However, there’s good news that sports betting appears to have turned the corner in the Garden State and it’s picking up again.
May 2020 has seen a turnaround in profits for New Jersey’s online sportsbooks and it’s due to the snail-like comeback of sports like PGA Golf, NASCAR races, and UFC events. The Garden State’s Sportsbooks posted almost $118 million in betting handle last month, which is an excellent number considering none of the 4 major professional sports (NHL, NBA, MLB and NFL) were operating. The number is good and a massive improvement of the paltry April 2020 handle of $54.9 million.
No doubt, June will see even more improvement with the German Bundesliga, the English Premier League, Australia’s AFL & NRL, and International Formula 1 Grand Prix motor racing all open for action again, not to mention our home-grown UFC, PGA Golf and NASCAR getting back into operation.
The May numbers
New Jersey’s sports betting market enjoyed a 115.8% increase in action among the state’s sports bettors from April to May with players wagering $117,821,280 for the month. This produced a revenue of $9,912,062 for May an impressive 276% increase from the April 2020 numbers. While it is an enormous month to month difference, it’s not even close to being in the same ballpark as the May 2019 numbers, the same month exactly one year ago.
By way of comparison, May 2019 saw a total betting handle of $318,940,677. The May 2020 numbers were a 63% loss in bets year-on-year. Industry experts have estimated that without the closedown of sports (and land-based retail sportsbooks for matter – remember these numbers are generated only by the online sportsbook sector) that betting handle would have been in the region of $500-$550 million.
The usual online suspects continue to lead the way in the Garden State
There is no official word yet as to when bricks-and-mortar retail sportsbooks in Atlantic City’s casinos will reopen, however New Jersey State Governor Phil Murphy has said on several occasions that he hopes to have them reopened by the July 4 holiday weekend.
Until that reopening occurs, residents of the State of New Jersey are fortunate to be able to enjoy access to a range of quality online sports betting sites.
New Jersey’s sports bettors again made it clear that they prefer FanDuel online sportsbook over rival DraftKings, and the two former DFS giants made up for $8.1 million of the $9.9 million of New May sports betting revenue between them.
Combined with their sports betting partner PointsBet, FanDuel posted a $4.3 million figure for May 2020 (a 43% market share) while DraftKings alongside their partner Fox Bet reported a $3.8 million revenue number (38% of the New Jersey market).
With more than $700 000 in revenue and third place in the New Jersey revenue race, BetMGM is now within striking distance of its reported goal of 10% market share in the Garden State. That $700 000 revenue share represents approximately 7% of the New Jersey market for BetMGM.
New Jersey hits more than $7 billion in betting handle
Since the first sportsbooks threw open their doors in the Garden State in June 2018, New Jersey sports bettors have accounted for more than $7 billion in betting handle.
That number reflects as more than $477 million in revenue raised, and an impressive $62.6 million to fill the coffers of the Garden State budget to spend on health, education, welfare, parks, gardens and fire and police services.
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