Top 5 Reasons NJ Sports Betting is Bigger than Nevada’s

In June 2019, the Garden State of New Jersey overtook Nevada in terms of both handle and revenue, and it’s been widening ever since. From May 2019 to August 2019, New Jersey’s sportsbooks beat out Nevada sportsbooks in three of four of those months. In August 2019 alone, New Jersey’s sportsbooks took in $293.5 million in bets, and $25.5 million in revenue, beating up on Nevada’s $288 million and $18.7 million respectively.

Let’s check out the Top 5 reasons that New Jersey’s sports betting numbers are ahead of those in the traditional sports betting heartland of Nevada;

Location, Location, Location

Conveniently located in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic coast states, New Jersey is a stone’s throw from big urban metropolis’ (New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC) and the large number of major league sporting teams in those cities.

Sports bettors in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York can easily commute to New Jersey in to place their bets, or in the case of New York City, simply stroll to the mid-point of the George Washington bridge across the Hudson, be physically located in New Jersey and place their wagers. By contrast, driving from Los Angeles (the closest neighboring city) to Las Vegas would take a potential sports bettor as much as 4 hours.

Mobile Betting

In Atlantic City, the impact of sports betting has been limited, with two new casinos — the Hard Rock and Ocean Resorts — opening last year and diluting the casino business as a whole. That said, officials from the NJ gaming authority report that sports betting seems to have helped increase the number of visitors to Atlantic City.

However, by some significant margin, New Jersey’s most popular form of sports betting is not at casinos, nor the racetracks; but online smartphones, tablets, PC’s laptops and all manner of mobile devices. Approximately 82 percent of all of New Jersey’s sports wagers are made on mobile devices. Protected by some of the most advanced geolocation technology today (specifically developed and purpose-built for the State of new Jersey), sports bettors have to be physically in the Garden State to make a sports wager.

“Over the past year, New Jersey has in many ways ascended to the center of the sports betting universe thanks largely to the Garden State’s embrace of mobile technology,” said Jamie Shea, Head of digital sports book operations at DraftKings. “We have taken in over 20 million bets via mobile and paid out over $600 million in New Jersey alone.” Mr Shea concluded.

Conversely, Nevada and Las Vegas in particular have been embracing online sports betting at a snail-like pace, receiving only 50 per cent of its wagers from online platforms. Moreover, less online options are available in Nevada, with bettors required to travel to brick-and-mortar sportsbooks, rather than betting from the comfort of their own homes or on-the-go.

Online Casino Gaming and Online Sports Betting.

With a vast range of online sports betting options compared to Nevada, New Jersey provides a great opportunity for cross-selling and cross-promotion with online casino operators that also carry an online sportsbook (such as 888Sport, SugarHouse, Borgata Sports, BetMGM, and Caesars) literally the same page, just one mouse-click or a  single swipe away.

NJ’s Racetracks Offer Sports Betting

Little explanation required. Nevada misses the jump to New Jersey as a state without a permanent racetrack, while sportsbooks at the races in New Jersey are booming.

High Rates of Illegal Sports Betting in Nevada

Legal online and bricks-and-mortar sportsbooks in New Jersey are now pulling in vast amounts revenue that was previously being wagered with illegal black-market bookies, another category where forever-legal Nevada lags behind.