Both online and retail New Jersey sportsbooks picked up the pace on their record-setting year in November, becoming the first state ever to produce more than $100 million in revenue in a single month from $1.3 billion in bets! This third consecutive month of huge results by sports betting and online gaming pushed the state past even more milestones, including a lifetime sports gambling handle of more than $20 billion! This according to the PlayNJ website, which tracks gaming developments in the state.
In total, New Jersey sportsbooks handled $1.26 billion in wagers in November, the third consecutive month with wagering over $1 billion, according to official reporting released Thursday. Betting volume was up 35.2% from the $931.6 million generated in November 2020, but fell just short of October’s $1.3 billion record. Sportsbooks won a remarkable $114.8 million of November’s bets, though. That shattered the previous record — for the state and for the U.S. — of $84.2 million that was set in October. Year-over-year, revenue was up 127.1% from $50.6 million in November 2020. In all, that revenue generated $17.3 million in state and local taxes.
New Jersey sportsbooks have now taken in $20.9 billion in wagers, which has yielded $1.55 billion in revenue, since the market first opened in June 2018. New Jersey is the only state to cross $20 billion in wagers and $1.5 billion in revenue over that time. With one less weekend of games, football betting slowed to $401.3 million in November from $499.0 million in October. Meanwhile, basketball spurred $399.7 million in betting, up from $159.6 million in October. For the year, basketball has attracted $2.3 billion in bets, the most of any sport. Football is second with $1.6 billion in wagers this year.
Online sportsbooks accounted for $1.1 billion in wagers, or 90.9% of the state’s handle in November. FanDuel/PointsBet/SuperBook continued their dominance of the online market with $59.0 million in gross revenue, up from $39.6 million in October. Meanwhile, retail sportsbooks generated $114.0 million in November handle. Meadowlands/FanDuel led the retail market with $5.4 million in revenue.
New Jersey sportsbooks were not alone in generating some nice profits, as their online casinos also kept up a blistering pace with $118.0 million in gaming and poker revenue, but fell short of the record $127.0 million generated in October. November’s revenue was up 28.5% from $91.8 million in November 2020. The pace slowed to $3.9 million in revenue per day over the 30 days of November from $4.1 million per day in October. But revenue was up from $3.1 million per day in November 2020. Online casinos and poker rooms have now produced $1.2 billion in revenue for the year.
“Online casinos and online sportsbooks have created a rising tide that continues to benefit both,” Danzis said. “The question ahead is how much more can online casinos grow? I don’t think they have reached their collective ceiling yet, but the growth in 2022 will most likely taper off somewhat compared with what we’ve seen over the last two years.”