Photo Credit: Jurist
New Jersey continues to reap solid results in terms of total sports betting performance. The state managed to amass $385 million in placed wagers in January, 2019, the most significant amount to date since NJ introduced the activity.
New Jersey’s Sports Wagers Grow in January
New Jersey has pulled an impressive milestone in January, 2019, starting the new year on a strong footing with $385 million in total wagers placed across the state. This marked the highest amount to date since NJ introduced its sports betting industry.
The January results beat December with over $61 million in total gross handle. But that was not all – New Jersey also managed to surpass the $1bn mark in January in terms of total handle since June.
Despite the solid uptick in total wagers, gamers turned out to be smarter this year, managing to rake back a heftier chunk of the total. Revenue wise, January was slightly worse off than December with $18.8 million and $21 million respectively.
Beating All Expectations
With November and December being the busiest months for football, it’s quite surprising that New Jersey has managed to generate such substantial chunk of money in January.
Most of the competitions around this time of the year are over, bar the Superbowl, which admittedly – is a big draw, but it doesn’t mean regular games as during the season.
While Nevada’s handle slowed down a little in January, New Jersey felt confident with the results. It’s worth noting, though, that in terms of Super Bowl handle, Nevada still had the upper hand.
Who Led the Way in New Jersey?
A total of 10 companies across the state accepted gamers’ wagers in January. The largest handle was generated by:
- Resorts (DraftKings, BetStars) – 7,136,619
- Meadowlands (FanDuel, PointsBet) – 7,018,180
- Monmouth Park (William Hill, SugarHouse) -2,002,772
- Ocean Resorts (William Hill) – $1,271,289
- Borgata (playMGM) – $677,461
- Bally’s Wild Wild West (Caesars, 888) – $496,660
There were a few other properties bringing a respectable, though not as impressive handle. Meanwhile, Resorts, Meadowlands, and FanDuel generated the largest digital handle in January.
In terms of digital betting, the amount total for January reached $15,504,039 as opposed to $3,270,901 for all other land-based operations.
The Little Man
The solid results in January indicated that DraftKings and FanDuel have established a solid base in New Jersey, commanding the largest interest across the state. Properties such as Golden Nugget, Hard Rock, and Tropicana haven’t been able to bank on this trend with their results fluctuating between a little over $24,000 and $98,000.
This can be described as incidental bets with gamers heading over to mostly play on casino products but deciding to also place a wager on the outcome of the Super Bowl. With this in mind, it would be interesting to see if the revenue of such small players would subside or pick off on season’s games.
Not Everyone Is a Winner
While sports betting seems to be onto a good thing, the same cannot be said for New Jersey’s poker industry, which has been losing revenue. Part of this has been occasioned by the newly-introduced revenue sharing scheme, which pooled together Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey and soon – Pennsylvania.
However, with an oncoming Department of Justice decision reversing the 2011 interpretation of the Wire Act, online poker may find itself in hot water. The good news is that sports betting is developing.