New Jersey sportsbooks increase in August

(PRESS RELEASE) -- New Jersey’s sportsbooks, with the addition of the state’s first online sportsbooks, saw a 135% increase in wagers and 139% increase in gross revenue in August. But August’s sports gambling totals foreshadow what is certain to be a paradigm-shifting September, according to analysts for PlayNJ.

“We could see sports betting grow by more than 300% in September as NFL and college football ramp up and the number of options for online sports wagering in New Jersey continues to grow,” said Dustin Gouker, lead sports betting analyst for PlayNJ.com. “September will be an enormously important month for New Jersey's legal sports betting industry.”

New Jersey’s sportsbooks generated $9.1 million in gross revenue on $95.6 million in wagers — known as handle — in August, according official reporting released Wednesday. Both numbers are up dramatically from July, when sportsbooks generated $3.8 million in gross revenue on $40.7 million in wagers completed.

“Once mature, we expect New Jersey to be a much larger market than Nevada,” Gouker said. “We do not believe that it will take long before it is the largest legal sports betting market in the U.S. It could be within the coming year.”

The numbers were buoyed by the launch of New Jersey's online sports betting market. DraftKings Sportsbook became New Jersey’s first online sports betting site on 6 August and generated $2.97 million in gross revenue.

• On 22 August, playMGM Casino launched online, generating $49,626 in gross revenue in its nine days of operation.
• On 23 August, SugarHouse Online Casino launched its integrated site with a SugarHouse sportsbook, generating $103,324 in gross revenue.

For the month, online sportsbooks generated a handle of $21.7 million in August, compared with $73.9 million at land-based sportsbooks.

The August totals do not include the online launches of Fanduel Sportsbook, William Hill Sportsbook & Racebook, CaesarsCasino.com, and 888 Sport, all of which have launched since 1 September. And more are expected to come.

“We saw a race to the online market ahead of the NFL season, and the strong August handle shows why,” Gouker said. “Online sports betting will be an important vehicle for the industry. But September will give us our first full picture of just how strong the market for online betting truly is.”

Of the eight retail sportsbooks that have opened, FanDuel Sportsbook at The Meadowlands led the way by posting $3.1 million in August gross revenue. Gross revenue was up from $1.35 million in July. FanDuel was followed in gross revenue by:

- Monmouth Park ($898,017)
- Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa ($855,152)
- Ocean Resort Casino ($519,563)
- Harrah's Resort Atlantic City ($298,521)
- Bally's - Atlantic City ($267,796)
- Golden Nugget - Atlantic City ($215,109)
- Resorts Casino Hotel ($98,087)

Legal online gambling falls short of another record
In August, the state’s online casinos and sportsbooks generated $24.8 million in gross revenue, down 4.2% from the record $25.9 million in July.

August’s total was up 16.6% from August 2017.

“Even with just a handful of operators in August, online sports betting added to the momentum that legal online gambling has maintained in New Jersey,” said Steve Ruddock, lead online gambling analyst for PlayNJ.com. “With many more online sportsbooks hitting the market in September, there is little doubt that August’s record will be short-lived.”

Some other important online gambling metrics from the August report:

• With August’s collection of $4.3 million in tax revenue, online casinos have now generated $159.7 million in total tax revenue for New Jersey since launch in November 2013.
• The industry generated $800,147 per day in the 31 days in August, down from $835,404 per day in the 31 days of July.
• Market leader Golden Nugget — home to the Golden Nugget, Betfair and SugarHouse online casino brands — generated $8.2 million in August, down from a record $9.3 million gathered in July.
• Online casino games generated $22.99 million in August, down from $24.04 million in July. Online poker hit $1.8 million in August, down from $1.9 million in July.