New Jersey Sports Betting Sees Huge Month-Over-Month Declines But Year-Over-Year Spikes

New Jersey's February earnings report reveals good and bad news for the Garden State legal sports betting industry, including some of our best sports betting sites.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement February earnings report revealed a healthy drop in month-over-month handle, hold rate, and revenues for New Jersey sports betting apps and retail providers. However, it also showed year-over-year increases in monthly handle and revenues which surged the state's sports betting scene to an unprecedented first two months of 2024 legal sports wagering.

$1.08 billion February handle

New Jersey sports betting had $1.08 billion in accepted bets in February. While an impressive 27.6% year-over-year spike from February 2023's $847.4 million handle, it does represent an over $710 million drop from January's $1.72 billion handle.

A whopping $1.04 billion of the overall $1.08 billion came from New Jersey sports betting sites as users took advantage of New Jersey sportsbook promos.

So far, through two months of 2024, New Jersey sports betting providers have combined to take in $2.8 billion at brick-and-mortar casinos and with New Jersey sports betting sites - an impressive 45.1% spike from the same period last year.

Revenues follow a similar pattern

Revenues for New Jersey sportsbooks followed a similar pattern as the handle with month-over-month drops and year-over-year increases.

There was $67.6 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue reported by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement for the 29-day February reporting period. This is from an underwhelming 6.3% hold, which is an almost 3.7% month-over-month drop from January’s win rate.

It is an eye-opening 60.4% month-over-month drop from the $170.8 million in winnings from January, which happened to be the fourth-best month ever for New Jersey sportsbooks in terms of monthly revenues.

However, the $67.6 million is a 23.7% year-over-year increase from the $54.6 million in adjusted gross income from February 2023. This is despite an underwhelming Super Bowl for New Jersey sportsbooks, in which operators claimed $8.5 million in revenue compared to the $12.8 million in Super Bowl winnings from last year.

Year-to-date, New Jersey sportsbook revenues stand at $283.3 million, an incredible 87.7% year-over-year increase from the first two months of 2023.

In February, taxes paid by New Jersey sports betting apps came in at $9.1 million, bringing the year-to-date tax contribution from New Jersey sportsbooks to $31.3 million. It is a nearly $15 million improvement from the same two-month period last year.

Meadowlands leads the revenue way

New Jersey sportsbooks paid the price for the Garden State’s unflattering hold rate and subsequent revenue dip. Meadowlands, which has FanDuel, SuperBook, and PointsBet under its New Jersey umbrella, led the way in February with $33.5 million in revenues, a sharp drop from the $109.3 million the trio made in January.

Resorts Digital, which has DraftKings as its partner, finished second in the New Jersey market with $24.2 million in February revenue, a 40% drop month over month.

Four of the state’s sports betting providers posted actual losses during the February reporting period. Freehold Raceway, which has ESPN BET, PlayUp, and betPARX making up its three-skin partnership, lost a whopping $2.3 million in February.

SportTrade, which has an agreement with Bally's, lost $413.9K in February. Betting exchange Prophet posted a $406.7K February deficit. Golden Nugget, which is made up of skins featuring its own betting brand, and Betway lost $153.7K last month.

March should be much better for Garden State sports betting providers, with March Madness projected to be the biggest on record.