NJ sportsbooks saw handle grow again in March, marking the third straight month of growth despite New York‘s launch.
New Jersey sports betting handle hit $1.121 billion in March, according to the state report released Monday afternoon. That is up 12.8% over February and 24.6% over March 2021.
Sports betting revenue hit $66.4 million for $8.2 million in taxes paid.
NJ sportsbooks growing in line with others
With estimates suggesting as much as 25% of NJ sports betting business came from New York, plenty were concerned for the New Jersey tax revenue stream when mobile NY sports betting started Jan. 8.
Even with New Yorkers betting in record volume, though, New Jersey’s figures grew year-over-year at rates similar to other states with legal sports betting:
| State | Handle growth vs. March 21 | Revenue growth vs. March 21 |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana | 50.5% | 22.5% |
| Iowa | 44.7% | 7.1% |
| New Jersey | 30.4% | 9.3% |
| Pennsylvania | 27.6% | 18.2% |
| Michigan | 24.6% | -7.9% |
Basketball, March Madness drive results
New Jersey does not differentiate between college and professional basketball in its state reports but March Madness betting certainly helped drive handle in March with 60.3% of all completed event handle placed on basketball last month.
Bettors placed $667.3 million worth of completed basketball bets at NJ sportsbooks in March. Revenue was just $10.1 million on those completed events, though, for a 1.5% hold.
None of that betting came on the improbable run by New Jersey’s own St. Peter’s, of course. NJ regulations do not allow betting on in-state colleges and voters rejected a change to the rule last year. That means it was New Jersey sending tax dollars to New York this time to place legal bets.
Parlays, other account for almost everything else
The big revenue generator for completed events were parlays. Sportsbooks held 16.3% of the $221.1 million in completed event bets for $36.1 million in revenue, or 67.2% of the completed event revenue for March.
The other category, which covers all bets that are not baseball, basketball, football or parlay bets, had $215.1 million in completed event handle for the month. Sportsbooks held 3.5% for $7.4 million in revenue.
Baseball kicked in a modest $3.8 million in handle and $98,634 in revenue since Opening Day for Major League Baseball was delayed into April.
