The rise of the New Jersey legal sports betting industry has been remarkable. From being one of the first states to sign on after the Supreme Court’s overturning PASPA in 2018 to now, the New Jersey market has grown to become the unquestioned “King of the Bet-Friendly States” and has become a model for how to successfully launch and maintain elite-level sports betting numbers in the broader US scene.
Friday was the third anniversary of New Jersey’s legalization of legal sports betting. Monday was the third anniversary of the first legal sports bet that was taken in the state. Both have given us reason to look back on the evolution of the top sports betting jurisdiction in the US market.
A Bit of History
It was June 2018 that Gov. Phil Murphy signed NJ sports betting into law and the state hasn’t looked back since. It was the culmination of efforts to bring sports betting to the state that started with then-governor Chris Christie way back in 2009. At that time, it was a battle between New Jersey lawmakers and the professional sports leagues that weren’t exactly in the corner of the sports betting industry.
It was May 14, 2018, that the US Supreme Court sided with the New Jersey plight and by a 6-3 margin and struck down the PASPA for legal sports betting across the country, allowing individual states to decide on whether or not to allow wagering in their jurisdictions. It wasn’t long before New Jersey took advantage.
The New Jersey legal sports betting industry has certainly evolved the three years since launch. It started with just retail sports betting and two months later, mobile betting came to fruition and has made New Jersey the envy of all other platforms in the US market.
There are now 20 online sportsbooks operating in the state as well as 12 retail outlets. Included are all of the top names in the industry such as BetMGM, William Hill and the two DFS behemoths that largely built their name in the New Jersey market.
Celebrating What They Have Done
New Jersey’s growth is best demonstrated by a peek at their year-over-year handle and revenue spikes. The handle has grown from $1.25 billion in 2018 to $4.58 billion in 2019 to over $6 billion in 2020 in a year that was characterized by the COVID-19 disaster that shuttered casinos and suspended sports leagues around the world. 2021 is already on track to smash all records in relation to New Jersey’s overall sports betting numbers.
Revenues swelled from $94 million in 2018 to nearly $300 million in 2019 to $398.5 million in 2020. Tax contributions to the state from sportsbook revenues went from $11,597,775 in 2018 to $39,594,127 in 2019 to $50,891,397 in 2020.
New Jersey currently holds all of the major records relating to the US legal sports betting scene. One is the record for yearly handle thanks to the $6 million sportsbooks took in during 2020. It eclipsed the previous King of the Wagering states, Nevada, which reported $5.4 billion in sports bets in 2019.
The Garden State also holds the record for the biggest monthly handle of any sports betting jurisdiction so far. No other state has even come close in any month. $996.3 million in December 2020 is the standard New Jersey set, making the $1 billion monthly handle goal the next to achieve, as hard is that is to believe.
Looking Forward
New Jersey has consistently separated itself from the pack in regard to their standing as the most successful sports betting jurisdiction in the nation… and it isn’t even close. In April for example, New Jersey’s handle was about $750 million – no other state came within $200 million of that total.
The only hole in The Garden State platform is the omission of college sports betting on New Jersey-based teams. Inclusion of in-state college betting has been an ongoing debate and could be coming to the state sooner rather than later.
It all adds up to New Jersey continuing to be the gold standard of legal sports betting states. Expect New Jersey to carry on its domination of the leaderboard among legal sports betting states and for more jurisdictions to come into the legal wagering fold, with New Jersey as their prime model.
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