New Jersey Sports Betting Sets US Record In Busy August


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MLB New York Yankees' Luke Voit

A full slate of MLB, NBA and NHL games all August led to a record-setting month for New Jersey sportsbooks.

Handle hit an all-time high $668 million last month, more than double the $315 million bet in July. Revenue was $39.5 million, good for third-best all-time in New Jersey, according to the state report.

That $668 million is the highest monthly total most ever for any state. Nevada held the previous record of $614.1 million set last November.

Mobile accounted for 90.1% of August’s sports betting handle.

‘Other’ still leads New Jersey sports betting totals

Baseball, which is typically the favorite sport in August with football, basketball and hockey shut down, was not the New Jersey sports betting darling last month.

The top sports betting category still belonged to “other,” which includes all action from anything that isn’t baseball, basketball, football and parlays. Handle on completed events in the “other” category was $204.9 million for the month.

Along with pandemic-favorite sports like golf, UFC and table tennis, that “other” handle also includes all bets on the NHL.

Baseball wasn’t even the top individual sport. Handle on completed basketball events was $166.2 million in August. Baseball was a close second with $150 million bet on completed events.

Parlay bettors were happy to see major US sports return, too. Handle on those completed events was $144.9 million.

Will September set another record?

There’s always a chance this record won’t stand for long. With betting on NFL games back at sportsbooks, September could be even bigger from a handle perspective.

NJ sports betting handle hit $445.6 million last September, which was a record at that point for the state. Bettors bet $188.6 million on completed football events in September 2019.

What happens to that football number will be interesting either way. On one hand, it would be understandable to see a dip given the postponement of various college football seasons. On the other, the pent-up demand for US sports could lead bettors to shift those dollars elsewhere, like NFL games or even the NBA and NHL playoffs.

Other states see sports betting surges, too

New Jersey isn’t the first state to report strong sports betting results from August.

Indiana sports betting handle jumped to $169 million last month, up nearly $100 million from July.

Handle for sports betting in Iowa rose 120.1% to $50.3 million. WV sports betting handle nearly tripled to $45.9 million.