New Jersey Sportsbooks Surprise With $814 Million Handle in May

"Sportsbooks have been able to capitalize on the NBA playoffs to shallow the typical summer slowdown, online casinos continue to generate huge revenue, and Atlantic City is getting busier," said Dustin Gouker, analyst for PlayNJ.com. "New Jersey's gaming industry appears healthier than anyone would have thought possible a year ago."

Bettors placed $814.3 million in wagers at New Jersey's online and retail sportsbooks in May, according to official data released Wednesday. That is up 591.1% from $117.8 million in bets taken in May 2020 and more surprisingly, up 8.9% from $748 million in April.

May's bets produced $52.9 million in revenue, up 433.6% from $9.9 million in May 2020. The month's win yielded $7.9 million in taxes.

Since launching on June 14, 2018, New Jersey's sportsbooks have generated $16.0 billion in bets, $1.1 billion in gross revenue, and $159.4 million in taxes. From June 2018 through April 2021, Nevada took in $14.5 million in bets and $909.3 million in operator revenue.

"New Jersey's sports betting market has not only grown into the largest in the U.S., but it has evolved into the state that is least affected by the seasonality of sports betting," said Eric Ramsey, analyst for PlayNJ.com. "No market can entirely escape the natural ebbs and flows, of course. But New Jersey is less reliant on football and sports betting holidays than any other major U.S. market."

Online betting accounted for 90.2%, or $736.7 million, of the state's total handle in May. Retail sportsbooks took in $79.6 million wagers in May, up 43.7% from $55.4 million in May 2019.

The biggest draw was the NBA, which piqued bettors' interest with playoff appearances by the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers. In all, basketball betting produced $216.7 million in bets, up from the $176.2 million in April.

"Success from regional teams almost always gives a market a boost, and basketball is particularly popular with New Jersey bettors," Gouker said. "Even more, after a year of strict capacity limits and with so many regional favorites in the NBA Playoffs, bettors seemed particularly motivated to get out and place a bet. All of it is great news for a gaming market on the mend."

FanDuel Sportsbook/PointsBet topped online operators with $29.8 million in gross revenue. Meadowlands/FanDuel led all retail books with $4.8 million in revenue in May.

Online casinos and poker

Online casinos and poker rooms enjoyed its third consecutive month with more than $100 million in revenue with $108.2 million in May, up 0.4% from $107.7 million in April. Year-over-year, online casino and poker revenue is up 25.9% from $85.9 million in May 2020. May's revenue yielded $18.9 million in state and local taxes.

Borgata continued to hold its online market lead with $32.8 million in casino and poker revenue in May, edging Golden Nugget's $31.1 million.

"Even as Atlantic City lifts pandemic-related limits and retail revenue slowly returns, online casinos continue to hold onto the gains made over the last year," Ramsey said. "Online revenue has clearly been resilient, but hopefully the retail market can sustain this return to pre-pandemic levels."