Operator News
US – New Jersey sportsbooks closing in on Las Vegas with $4.6bn December
By Phil - 15 January 2020
New Jersey’s sportsbooks and online casinos performed in December in much the same way they spent the rest of 2019: With new records and more growth.
Retail and online sportsbooks combined with online casinos and poker to generate nearly $800m in revenue in 2019, sending New Jersey into 2020 with plenty of momentum, according to PlayNJ.com analysts.
“Online sports betting and casino gambling should continue on or near its current growth trajectory in 2020,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayNJ.com. “Online growth will continue to be a net win for New Jersey’s gaming industry.”
New Jersey’s online and retail sportsbooks collected $557.8m in bets in December, short of the record $562.2m handle set in November, according to official reporting. December 2019’s handle was up 74.7 per cent from $319.2m in December 2018.
Revenue from sportsbooks reached $29.4m, down from $32.9m in November and up 41.4 per cent from $20.8m won in December 2018. December’s revenue yielded $3.7m in tax revenue for the state.
For 2019, New Jersey’s sportsbooks combined to generate $4.6bn in bets. Of that $3.8bn, or 83.7 per cent, was generated online.
New Jersey will fall short of Nevada, which has generated $4.7bn in bets through November, in the race to be the country’s largest legal sports betting jurisdiction.
“2019 could very well go down as the last year that New Jersey was eclipsed by Nevada,” said Eric Ramsey, analyst for PlayNJ.com said. “From its proximity to the New York market to its pioneering online sports betting infrastructure, New Jersey’s positives as a sports betting market will continue to fuel its growth.”
In December, online betting generated $488.9 million, or 87.6 per cent of the state’s handle, up from 86.5 per cent in November. FanDuel Sportsbook/PointsBet continues to pace the online market, tallying $12.1m in gross revenue, down from $12.2m in November.
FanDuel Sportsbook at The Meadowlands lead the retail market with $2.4m in November gross revenue.
“In addition to constant growth, one of the constants in New Jersey’s sports betting market has been FanDuel’s dominance,” Mr. Gouker said. “The brands under Resorts Digital have made it a relatively close second in the online market, but it has proven difficult to overcome FanDuel’s advantages, despite the brand recognition that comes from DraftKings and Fox Bet.”
New Jersey’s online casino and poker industry nearly surpassed $50 million in monthly revenue for the first time in December, completing a year of expansion. Online casino games and poker generated a record $49.3m in December, up 70 per cent from $29m in December 2018.
For the year, online casinos and poker generated a record $482.7m, up 61.6 per cent from $298.7m in 2018. That injected $65,065,045+December into state coffers.
“Online casino gambling has clearly become one of the biggest winners from online sports betting,” Mr. Ramsey said. “In a highly competitive market such as online casino gambling, the cross-selling of online gambling products has successfully kept customers playing.”
