Any sliver of doubt about whether mobile New Jersey sports betting is the future faded emphatically in December 2019.
The Garden State reported its sports betting revenue numbers for the month Tuesday and wagering via NJ sports betting apps reached a new apex: nearly nine out of every 10 bets. The hard total of roughly 88% exceeds even the lofty 85% watermark set for most of 2019 in NJ.
The report shows handle of more than $557 million and revenue of $29.4 million for December. That’s a hold of about 5.3%, right on Nevada’s historical average.
NJ sports betting generated more than $4.58 billion in handle in 2019. Revenue of nearly $300 million equated to better than $36 million going into New Jersey state tax coffers. Combined with local assessments dedicated to Atlantic City, that figure rises to more than $40 million.
FanDuel cements 2019 NJ sports betting surge
Six months of trailing its primary rival faded into the swamps last year as FanDuel Sportsbook overtook DraftKings Sportsbook.
FanDuel finished the year as the early market leader in New Jersey, posting more than $14 million in December revenue. DraftKings took the silver with more than $9 million in hold for the final month of the year.
For 2019, FanDuel accounted for nearly half of NJ sports betting revenue with better than $149 million through its Meadowlands Racetrack license. DraftKings posted more than $79 million via its Resorts Digital license. (Both licenses include other operators as well.)
DraftKings ascended in 2018 in part because of its first-mover advantage in mobile, launching weeks ahead of competitors. FanDuel steadily eroded that edge heading into 2019, using its retail presence at Meadowlands Racetrack to help build its mobile business.
| Property (Online) | Retail | Digital | December total | November total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bally’s Wild Wild West (Caesars, 888) | $64,759 | $108,437 | $173,196 | $708,331 |
| Borgata (betMGM) | $1,277,103 | $995,096 | $2,272,199 | $2,077,425 |
| Golden Nugget (Golden Nugget, BetAmerica) | $66,306 | $102,524 | $168,830 | $255,555 |
| Hard Rock (Unibet, bet365) | ($51,182) | ($294,442) | ($345,624) | $537,089 |
| Harrah’s | ($107,646) | – | ($107,646) | $22,565 |
| Meadowlands (FanDuel, PointsBet) | $2,426,360 | $12,089,277 | $14,515,637 | $14,880,433 |
| Monmouth Park (William Hill, SugarHouse, theScore) | $615,205 | $1,929,969 | $2,545,174 | $2,521,765 |
| Ocean Resort (William Hill) | ($67,260) | $1,230,059 | $1,162,799 | $2,547,648 |
| Resorts (DraftKings, Fox Bet) | ($406,493) | $9,331,085 | $8,924,592 | $9,181,132 |
| Tropicana (William Hill) | $71,715 | $32,958 | $104,673 | $179,778 |
| Total | $3,888,867 | $25,524,963 | $29,521,476 | $32,911,721 |
Can’t we all just get along?
Returns from the first full year of legal US sports betting indicate pent-up demand throughout the country. A robust year for NJ sports betting did little to damage the Nevada market, at least in the short term.
While sports betting in New Jersey generated $4.58 billion in handle, Nevada enjoyed its strongest month on record in November 2019. Bettors in the Silver State put up $614 million in a month without any major events in Las Vegas.
Sports betting revenue in the US, therefore, does not appear to be a zero-sum game. The wave of demand cannot rise infinitely; however, less than two years in, and it has not yet crested.
New Jersey already showed it could weather one storm when PA sports betting launched mobile last year. As long as New York sputters on mobile wagering, New Jersey sports betting will reap the benefits of its neighbor’s inertia.
