New Jersey Sportsbooks Shrug Off New York Competition With Record Month

"Sportsbooks have dealt with neighbors legalizing mobile sports betting before and continued to thrive, and it will take a few months before we know for certain the true impact of New York," said David Danzis, an analyst for PlayNJ.com. "But January's results are certainly encouraging, showing that New Jersey's gaming industry can weather New York's expansion."

New Jersey's online and retail sportsbooks handled nearly $1.35 billion in wagers in January, up 10% from $1.2 billion in December, according to official reporting released Wednesday. Betting volume was up 40.7% year over year, from the $958.7 million generated in January 2021. More surprising, it topped the previous state record of $1.3 billion in betting reached in October — which was a U.S. high until New York debuted.

Sportsbooks won $60.2 million in gross revenue. That was down 27% from $82.4 million in January 2021, though up 2% from $59.0 million in December. In the end, sports betting taxes injected $9.3 million into state and local coffers.

With five weekends on the calendar, January's handle was bolstered by an extra week of regular season NFL games, expanded playoffs, and college football's national championship game. That led to $340.3 million in football betting, but that was down from $398.8 million in December. Basketball, though, generated a whopping $553.7 million in wagers.

"With the expanded NFL schedule and a favorable calendar, most states will set a sports betting record in January. But only New Jersey saw their most important feeder market turn into competition," said Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayNJ.com. "Ultimately, having such a busy sports calendar in January did seem to help soften the impact of New York's launch."

Online sportsbooks accounted for $1.2 billion in wagering, or 89.7% of the state's handle in January. FanDuel/PointsBet/SuperBook topped the online market with $35.5 million in gross revenue, up from $27.6 million in December. That topped DraftKings/Fox Bet/Resorts, which was second with $10.2 million in revenue.

Retail sportsbooks drew $139.2 million in wagers. Meadowlands/FanDuel topped the retail market with $2.9 million in revenue, well ahead of No. 2 Resort AC's $272,773 in revenue.

"No retail operator in New Jersey will be impacted more by New York's sports betting expansion more than FanDuel's Meadowlands sportsbook," Danzis said. "FanDuel has dominated both the online and retail markets since the beginning, in part, because of its close proximity to New York City. For the first time since New Jersey launched sports betting, FanDuel's market supremacy in the state is threatened."

Online casinos and poker set fresh record

New Jersey's online casinos continued to steam ahead, setting a fresh record with $137.8 million in online casino and poker revenue in January. Revenue grew 32.8% from $103.7 million in January 2021, and broke the previous record of $133.2 million set in December.

Revenue from online casinos and poker rooms rose to a record $4.4 million per day over the 31 days of January from $4.3 million in revenue per day in December, ultimately yielding $24.1 million in state and local taxes.

"The momentum for online casinos will remain a stalwart for New Jersey's gaming industry no matter how much sports betting expands in New York," Ramsey said. "Revenue from online casinos has never been more important for the state's tax collection."