The new jersey betting market is scheduled to take off to greater heights this year. Based on a report that was shared by the state Office of the Attorney General, the combined gaming revenue acquired from racetracks, casinos, as well as their partners rose by almost 30% in 2021. In total, the casinos and racetracks in New Jersey managed to generate a whopping $404.1 million, a clear increase from the $312.9 million that was produced in December.
The entire industry has generated $4.74 billion year-to-date. Online gaming revenue saw an increase of 40.9% to reach $1.37 billion. Just in December alone, iGaming shot up by almost 34% compared to the same period last year. New Jersey has always been the state to watch ever since the Supreme Court repealed PASPA and paved the way for the growth of legal sports betting in the country.
As the very first state to legalize mobile sports betting in the country, New Jersey has been a trendsetter and has inspired other states to legalize their own markets. Ever since the Garden State welcomed regulated sports betting in 2018, the state has been relying on the revenue generated from the practice to repair its once ailing economy.
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New Jersey Bettors Smashed Records in January 2022
Punters in New Jersey wagered a groundbreaking $1.3 billion on sports this January. Online casinos in New Jersey also had a lot to celebrate as revenue for iGaming finally reached all-time high despite the Empire State’s brand new mobile betting market. The combined betting revenue in New Jersey in January 2022 amounted to $381.7m.
This was a boost of 10.3% compared to the same period last year. Approximately $1.21 billion was made up of wagers placed online. The remaining $139.2m consisted of sports bets placed at brick and mortar sportsbooks. When it comes to operators, PointsBet and FanDuel, which are both allied to Meadowlands, have remained at the top of the revenue table for months.
In particular, FanDuel, PointsBet and Meadowlands posted a combined revenue of $38.4 million in January 2022. Resorts Digital and DraftKings have been doing their best to overtake the competition. However, this January, the brands trailed the top 3 with an impressive $10.2 million generated in revenue.
BetMGM and partners Borgata came in third with $4.8 million in revenue produced. iGaming revenue also reached a new monthly record for the state in January 2022. iGaming produced $137.8 million in revenue, which was a boost of 32% compared to the same period last year. Online casinos were responsible for $135 million of the combined iGaming revenue this January.
The remaining $2.6 million was acquired from peer-to-peer poker games. As far as the iGaming market went, the top position in the revenue board was reserved for Borgata. In January this year, Borgata generated $39.1 million in revenue. Golden Nugget Online came in second with a good $36.5 million.
Resort digital, on the other hand, managed to produce a cool $33.0 million. In regards to land-based casinos, revenue also increased by 14% to reach $183 million. Out of this amount generated, $129 million was acquired from slot machines while table games generated $54 million.
Will Neighbouring NY Threaten New Jersey’s Growth?
This year, neighbouring state New York debuted its online sports wagering market on January 8th. In just its first weekend, the Empire State had generated $17.2 million in new registrations. With residents of New York no longer required to cross over to New Jersey to place wagers, many assumed that New Jersey’s handle would see a significant drop at the start of the year. However, this has not happened.
Plus, New Jersey has done its best to continue diversifying its product since the mobile sports betting market was legalized. For instance, just last year, New Jersey became the first state in the country to green light fixed-odds wagers on horse races. Governor Phil Murphy signed the fixed odds wagering act into law in August 2021.
As a result of this law, punters in New Jersey can now place fixed odds racing wagers via licensed operators. Before this practice was legalized, people could only place bets on racehorses through pari-mutuel wagers. Now that fixed odds betting on horse races has been made official, licensees have been paying a share of their profits to the Standardbred or thoroughbred permit holder.
The fixed-odds wagering bill received unanimous approval from both the Assembly and the Senate. To cater to fixed-odds customers, BetMakers has been providing this service. BetMakers enjoys a 10-year fixed-odds deal on thoroughbred horse races in New Jersey and has so far been doing a good job.
Last year in July, lawmakers in the Garden State also passed bi-partisan bill A637 which allows the inclusion of esports wagering in the state’s sports betting framework. Now that it has been legalized, operators are now allowed to accept wagers on esports. However, these wagers have been capped at $100 with a possibility of winning wagers close to $500.
Final Thoughts
In the future, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement could revise the ager limit, especially as esports betting continues to gain popularity in the world. Before this bill was passed, New Jersey sportsbooks were permitted to accept bets on esports but only after being approved by the state first.
That’s why Borgata became the first casino in AC to accept New Jersey’s first-ever legal esports wager. This wager was placed on the finals of the League of Legends World Championship. At the start of 2022, New Jersey set trends again when it granted Esports Entertainment Group a license to legally accept esports bets in the state.
EEG launched the first dedicated esports betting platform of its kind in the state known as VIE.gg. On this platform, punters in the state can place wagers on an array of well-known esports including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, as well as League of Legends.
