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NJ sports wagering handle reaches $4.58bn in 2019

News

Players wagered a total of $4.58bn in New Jersey over the course of 2019, with operators generating revenue of $299.4m for the year.

The revenue figure represents an increase of 218.4% on the previous year. However New Jersey only opened its regulated market in June 2018, meaning operators were only active for six months of the comparative year.

Player spending on sports betting in the state also rocketed by 1,089.5% from $385.3m during the six-month period in 2018.

Online was by far the most popular form of sports betting in 2019, with players wagering a total of $3.84bn via the internet, compared to $747.4m at retail sites.

Meadowlands and sub-licensees FanDuel and PointsBet was the market leader in 2019, posting revenue of $149.9m for the year. Resorts Digital, which hosts DraftKings and The Stars Group’s Fox Bet joint venture under its licence, ranked second with $79.6m in revenue.

Monmouth Park and William Hill followed with $25.9m, while Ocean Resort, another William Hill partner, generated $17.4m over the 12-month period. Borgata was the only other operator to post sports betting revenue in excess of $10m, collecting a total of $10.5m for the year.

New Jersey’s full-year performance was boosted by a busy December, during which operators generated $29.4m in total revenue, up 41.4% on the same month in 2018 but lower than $32.9m recorded in November 2019.

Sports betting handle for the month amounted to $557.8m, just shy of the record $562.7m that was set in November 2019. Online wagers totalled $488.9m during December, with retail bets coming in at $68.9m for the month.

Meanwhile, online gaming revenue in New Jersey amounted to $482.7m in 2019, an increase of 61.6% on $298.7m in the previous 12 months.

Golden Nugget led this sector of the New Jersey gambling market with $177.0m in revenue, up 68.9% from  2018. Resorts Digital followed with revenue of $100.1m, up 121.0%, then Borgata with $77.8m, a 48.3% year-on-year increase.

In terms of monthly performance, online gaming revenue was up by 70.0% from $29.0m in December of 2018 to $49.3m last month. Golden Nugget continued to lead the way, accounting for $17.3m of the total, followed by Resorts Digital on $11.9m, and the Borgata on $9.2m.

Full year land-based casino revenue for 2019 increased 7.0% from $2.51bn to $2.67bn, despite December revenue slipping 0.2% year-on-year from $209.1m to $208.6m.

Overall gambling revenue for 2019 in the state amounted to $3.47bn, up 19.5% from $2.90bn in the previous year. For December, total gambling revenue was up 11.0% year-on-year from $258.9m to $287.3m.