The once-dominant New Jersey sports betting market is showing signs of fatigue as bettors are spending less now than they did just a year before.
A seasonal drop-off from March’s sports-heavy calendar to April’s lighter lineup is expected, but New Jersey’s slide indicates something bigger.
According to the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, NJ sportsbooks took in nearly $834 million worth of legal bets in April and retained more than $72 million. The amount wagered (handle) is down over 10% from April 2022. The year-over-year average sports betting revenue in New Jersey, however, increased by better than 43%.
Reading typically the NJ wagering tea results in
The 20.7% drop in handle from March’s $1.02 billion is about par with a similar monthly decline in 2022 (-17.3%).
However, April’s data confirms a long-held industry belief that New York’s emerging market would eventually stunt New Jersey’s growth.
April is the twelfth consecutive month where the statewide sports gambling handle has been lower compared to the same month a year prior. Not coincidentally, New York launched online sports betting in January 2022, which siphoned off a significant amount of NJ’s wagering activity.
Before NY’s entry into the online sports gambling market, NJ was the national leader. It had overtaken Nevada and Las Vegas as the US gambling capital (at least in terms of dollars). Over the past 15 months, the Garden State has ceded ground to its neighbor and been knocked off its position atop the national sports gambling mountain.
New Jersey still remains at the forefront of legal sports gambling states, although Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio have joined NY and NV as legitimate competitors.
Gamblers’ inclination for on line sports betting magnificent in NJ-NEW JERSEY
Online wagering continues to account for the majority of legal wagers in NJ. According to the DGE data, 95.7% ($798.5 million) of April’s handle was from online bets. Additionally, 94.8% of all sports betting money in NJ was placed using online sportsbooks.
Gambling authorities in NJ do not disclose individual operator statistics, so market share, gross revenue, advertising spending, and taxes for NJ’s online sportsbooks are unknown. Approved online operators in NJ include those associated with Atlantic City’s eight casinos, as well as digital-only options and state-licensed racetracks.
The online sportsbooks at the Meadowlands Racetrack, including FanDuel, PointsBet, and SuperBook, consistently generate the highest amount of statewide revenue. In April, they generated $36.1 million, with the retail book at the track contributing another $1.9 million. It is widely understood that FanDuel Sportsbook is responsible for the majority of these reported figures.
Resorts Digital, separate from Resorts Casino Hotel, features DraftKings Sportsbook and FoxBet, with the daily fantasy sports operator considered the driving force in this group. They generated just under $20.4 million last month, according to state data. DraftKings operates a retail sportsbook within Resorts and reported a monthly loss of $58,339.
The Borgata casino and BetMGM round out the market’s top three, with slightly over $6.5 million in revenue.
David Danzis is the lead writer for PlayNJ. He is a New Jersey native and an honors graduate of Rutgers University. As a newspaper reporter for the New Jersey Herald and Press of Atlantic City, David has received statewide recognition for his coverage of politics, government, education, sports, and business. Today, he serves as PlayNJ’s Atlantic City “insider” and an industry expert on casinos, sports betting, and online gambling. David resides in Mays Landing with his wife and two children. When not working, he enjoys spending time at the beach, playing golf, or snowboarding, and he is an avid fan of his beloved New York sports teams—the Yankees, Jets, Rangers, and Knicks.
