New Jersey sports betting operators set new monthly records for both revenue and wagering handle in October, and it wasn’t even close.
Figures released Thursday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show the state’s licensed digital and land-based sportsbooks generated revenue of just under $46.4m in October, a nearly four-fold rise from the same month last year and handily beating the state’s previous monthly revenue high of $37.9m set this September.
October’s betting handle came just $12m shy of the half-billion dollar mark, with online and mobile’s share of that total hitting 85.4%, a new market-high. October’s handle represented a nearly $42.5m (9.5%) gain on September’s total, with year-to-date handle now sitting at $3.46b.
October’s betting revenue also came in $1.2m higher than the state’s online casino/poker tally, which was also a new monthly record, although the betting stat also includes land-based wagering at Atlantic City casinos and state racetracks.
October saw the Meadowlands racetrack and its FanDuel/Pointsbet partners obliterate their previous betting revenue record with $24.8m – a 53.4% share of the statewide total – representing a six-fold year-on-year rise and nearly $8m higher than September’s sum. Nearly $20.7m of October’s tally came via digital channels.
Resorts Digital Gaming, whose operations include DraftKings and The Stars Group’s FoxBet joint venture with FOX Sports, ranked second with $10.56m, up 107.4% year-on-year but a step back from September’s $10.7m. The land-based sportsbook at Resorts Casino Hotel added another $265k to its digital haul.
The Monmouth Park racetrack ranked a distant third with revenue of $2.84m, of which $1.66m was generated online, while Ocean Resort Casino placed fourth with $2.33m. Hard Rock Atlantic City generated $1.96m, nearly five times September’s sum, reflecting the recent addition of UK giant Bet365 and the Kindred Group’s Unibet brand to the fold.
The Borgata/BetMGM combo reported revenue of $1.84m, a modest gain on September’s $1.5m but the Roar Digital online joint venture of GVC Holdings and MGM Resorts has yet to catch fire with local bettors.
Thursday saw the launch of the new Yahoo Sportsbook, which is really a referral service to the BetMGM site/app in markets where betting is legal (aka New Jersey). Given Yahoo’s existing fantasy sports player database, the opportunities for a DraftKings- or FanDuel-style crossover could prove the boost BetMGM needs.
It remains to be seen what impact New Jersey’s recent temporary approval of eSports betting could have on the state’s monthly revenue totals. The DGE has to date only approved a single League of Legends World Championship event and has yet to comment on whether this trial went off without issues.
