Latest NJ sports betting report shows signs of NY effect

New Jersey sportsbooks reported $546.8 million in handle for August, down 17.7% from last year. Revenue hit $65.3 million, for $8.3 million paid in taxes, according to the monthly report released Friday.

August marked the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year handle declines for NJ. That has only happened once before: March 2020 through June 2020, when almost all major sports were shut down because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mobile New York sportsbooks, meanwhile, are doing a brisk business. The nine operators brought in $872.2 million in August, or 59.5% higher than New Jersey.

NJ sports betting not keeping with national trend

The month is still young, but for now, most states are reporting year-over-year handle growth in August.

Montana and New Jersey are the only states with handle down compared to last year out of the 10 reporting states that were live in August 2021.

Neighboring Pennsylvania typically has reported similar trends to New Jersey but the two are moving opposite directions. Pennsylvania sportsbooks also saw a dip in June but reported handle growth in May, July and August.

This stat might be the most telling for New Jersey, though. Handle grew just 2.8% over July’s $531.9 million, which was the lowest monthly handle in New Jersey since July 2020 when sports started returning from Covid breaks.

Hold spiked, but did books actually win more?

August hold hit an unusual spot for New Jersey, with double digits. Hold was 11.9% last month, the first time since September 2018 hold crossed 10% or higher in the state.

That had nothing to do with operators, though, and everything to do with how New Jersey reports.

There was $531.2 million in completed bets in August. With $546.8 million bet all month that suggests roughly $15.6 million in futures bets with most almost certainly coming from NFL betting given the season’s start in September.

Futures bets are reported as revenue in the month they are accepted. Removing the assumed $15.6 million in futures would drop revenue down to $49.7 million for a 9.1% hold, which is still an above-average month given the post-PASPA national average of 7.2%. Hold was 8.5% in July and 7.8% last August.

NJ sports betting revenue tops $2 billion

New Jersey hit an impressive milestone in August, even if all those futures bets win. The state crossed the $2 billion threshold for sports betting revenue since June 2018, the first full month after the fall of PASPA.

The next closest three states are Nevada ($1.44 billion), Pennsylvania ($1.21 billion) and Illinois ($987.5 million), but it might not be any of them hitting that $2 billion mark next.

By Mattew Waters