New Jersey reported record online gambling revenue and sports betting handle in August, as bettors were drawn back online by the resumption of major league play.
Figures released Monday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) show the state’s licensed online gambling operators reported combined revenue of $87.77m in the month of August, more than twice the $41.1m generated in the same month last year.
August’s total also narrowly edged past the previous monthly record of $87.5m the state reported in July, as online casino revenue soared 115% to $84.7m and the much maligned online poker vertical shot up 77.7% to just over $3m (although the poker total represents a significant haircut from July’s $4.8m).
For the year-to-date, online gambling revenue totaled just under $598m, a 100.7% rise over the first eight months of 2019. Online casino rose 101% to $569.7m while poker is up 96.2% to $28.3m.
The Golden Nugget continues to outpace all online rivals with $27.65m (+84.5%) in August, well ahead of the Borgata ($19.8m) and Resorts Digital ($17.9m). However, those latter two saw their August total rise 177.2% and 140.2%, respectively, suggesting they may yet close the gap with the Nugget in the months to come.
The Nugget is a casino-only site, whereas both the Borgata and Resorts have online sports betting operations through BetMGM and DraftKings, respectively. The resumption of major league play pushed a lot of bettors onto these sites in August, and many of these bettors appear to have dabbled with the odd spin of an online slot while waiting for the results of their wagering.
The state’s sports betting licensees reported revenue of $39.5m in August, a $10m improvement from July, while betting handle hit $668m, which is not only a new record high for the state but also surpassed Nevada’s all-time best of $614m in November 2019.
With Atlantic City’s casinos still limited in terms of capacity, it’s no surprise that only $66m (9.9%) of August’s betting handle was wagered at the retail level. Basketball accounted for $166.2m of August’s ‘completed events’ handle, while baseball managed $150m, but ‘other’ sports still led all comers with nearly $205m.
The Meadowlands racetrack and its FanDuel/PointsBet partners were the undisputed champs of August’s betting, collecting revenue of over $21.1m, while runner-up Resorts Digital/DraftKings could only manage $10m and Borgata’s BetMGM scored third with a mere $4.5m.
Nevada won’t release its August numbers until the end of this month, so it remains to be seen if that state – which has mobile wagering but still requires bettors to register new accounts at a land-based venue – can reclaim its traditional betting crown.
