There were more treats than tricks for sportsbook operators in New Jersey in October.
Authorities from the Garden State shared that sportsbooks made more than $92 million in revenue from sports betting, after adjusting for certain factors. This marked the fourth-highest amount in the 65 months since sports betting became legal in the state. It also showed a 22% increase compared to the same month the previous year.
Over the course of October’s 31 days, New Jersey bettors wagered more than $1.2 billion using licensed books. This was the 13th time that sportsbooks in New Jersey had surpassed $1 billion in accepted wagers. Only neighboring New York had done so more frequently, achieving it 19 times in 22 months of mobile betting.
In the first 10 months of this year, New Jersey sportsbooks have made over $800 million in revenue, increasing nearly 35% compared to the same period last year.
Not All of The News Is Good
According to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, sportsbooks collectively held a little more than 7% of the total amount wagered, which is the lowest since February when it was just under 6.5%. Despite this, the revenue was still up more than 18% compared to October 2022, thanks to a significant increase in the total amount of money wagered, reaching $1.06 billion last year.
New Jersey Tax Revenue Strong
The state government collected nearly $12 million in taxes from these earnings. This set a new record for a single year, totaling almost $103 million, with two months remaining in the year.
This surpassed the previous record of $102 million set in 2021. Importantly, this achievement brought the total state tax receipts since the launch of sports betting in June 2018 to just under $400 million, with less than $53,000 remaining to reach that milestone.
Parlays Remain a Popular Play
A major factor contributing to the October boost has been the popularity of parlays. October turned out to be the second month in a row, the total amount of money bet on parlays reached a new all-time high, hitting $340 million.
Although this was nearly 11% more than the previous month, the sportsbooks’ earnings from these bets were down by a little more than 6%— totaling $64 million. The hold on these bets was almost 19%, which is close to 3.4 percentage points lower than the 22% hold in September and significantly lower than the highest-ever hold of 29% achieved in July.
Sports Betting Apps Hold Their Own In New in October
In August and September, Resorts Digital’s mobile platforms, primarily DraftKings and Resorts’ in-house app, achieved record-breaking revenue of $106.8 million. However, in October, the combined revenue for these two mobile options was a little more than $15 million, which is just over 30% of what was earned in September ($49.9 million). It was also almost 11% less than the earnings in October 2022.
On the other hand, the three mobile options available to New Jersey bettors linked to the Meadowlands Racetrack — FanDuel, PointsBet, and Superbook — had a successful October with nearly $58 million in winnings. Although it didn’t surpass the all-time high of over $59 million in November 2021, it still marked a significant increase of more than 35% compared to the same month the previous year.
So, all in all, another good month for sports betting in October, we’ll see if that propels the state to even bigger numbers in November.
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