The NJ sports betting industry has opened 2023 on a high note, reporting a January handle of $1.08 billion. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released January results Thursday.
This marks the fourth month in a row in which monthly bets exceeded $1 billion. The news isn’t surprising being that we’re talking about the heart of NFL and college football betting seasons.
NJ sports betting revenue came in at $72.3 million, good enough for a 20.2% increase over the same period last year ($60.2 million). However, what makes this result really stand out is the fact that four out of 13 license holders actually lost money during January.
Here’s a closer look at the some January highlights from NJ sportsbooks.
January was an exciting month for NFL betting fans
There’s no doubt NFL betting played a significant factor in the January results. The New York Giants made the NFC Playoffs as a Wild Card team and advanced to the divisional round.
They went up against the Philadelphia Eagles – the eventual NFC champions. Both teams played four January games. NJ does not break down the betting results by specific sporting events. However, the Giants missed the 2022 postseason cut and the Birds were eliminated in the Wild Card round.
Hence there was definitely some added NJ sports betting excitement this time around.
Meadowland Racetrack, FanDuel Sportsbook NJ sports betting winners
Looking over the latest report, it’s hard not to notice how the Meadowlands Racetrack and sports betting partner FanDuel Sportsbook absolutely crushed the competition (PointsBet NJ and SuperBook also operate under the license).
The license holder accounted for nearly 66% of the Garden State’s sports betting revenue. Their $47.7 million more than doubles the $20.8 million reported by the nine Atlantic City casinos (Resorts Atlantic City reports online revenue under the Resorts Digital umbrella).
The Meadowlands also topped it January 2022 result ($38.4 million) by nearly $10 million.
DraftKings, BetMGM lead the Atlantic City pack
The Atlantic City sports betting results continue to follow a monthly pattern with two license holders accounting for the majority of the revenue.
Resorts Digital, which is a combination of DraftKings Sportsbook and Fox Bet, led the market with $12.7 million. That number is up 24.6% from January 2021. The result more than makes up for the $212,105 loss from the DraftKings-branded sportsbook at Resorts AC.
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (BetMGM and Borgata sportsbooks) enjoyed a solid month as well with $6.78 million, which is a 39.7% increase.
As far as the rest of the AC market goes, Hard Rock Atlantic City also reported over $1 million in sports betting revenue with a tad over $1.3 million. Bet365, Unibet NJ and the namesake brand are the sportsbooks operating under the license.
NJ sports betting $1B streak is about to end
February is one of the slower months on the NJ sports betting calendar. Besides it being the shortest month of the year, it marks the official end of NFL betting season.
And this year’s NJ Super Bowl handle saw a significant drop from 2022. The DGE preliminary report has NJ sportsbooks taking in $109 million in Super Bowl 57 bets. Some might find the news surprising being that the Philadelphia Eagles were playing in the Big Game. The positive is NJ sportsbooks and their land-based partners reported a new state record of $12.8 million in Super Bowl betting revenue.
Other than the Eagles versus Kansas Chiefs, NBA and college basketball betting are the two biggest draws. Being that March Madness betting is still several weeks away, February numbers are going to have a tough time measuring up to January and March. The NJ February 2022 betting total came in at $985.6 million, but that included a 143.7 million Super Bowl handle.
The results will be released mid-March. For now, we can say NJ sports betting is off to a strong 2023 start.
