By TheNuts - Oct 17, 2023
In September, New Jersey sees sports wagering handle increase to $1.3 billion.
The state of New Jersey sent a message that it still has plenty of juice after the state's Division of Gaming Enforcement on Monday reported September
sportsbook handle totaling $1.3 billion and operator revenue of $111.1 million. Sports wagering may be too new an industry for a state to have a "turn back the clock" month.
It was the 12th monthly total over $1 billion and the third-highest handling in Garden State history. The only other sum greater was the $1.3 billion plus reported in November 2021. New Jersey gamblers bet their most since a record $1.35 billion in January 2022.
The emergence of neighboring New York as a major player following the debut of its 2022 mobile platform has reduced New Jersey's advantage, but only time will tell if September's total in the Garden State is an anomaly or the beginning of a rebound. It was 79% greater than August and approximately 50% higher than the $866.7 million in accepted bets in September 2022.
The $111.1 million in income was the second-highest operator haul in state history, despite the fact that the sportsbooks' win percentage finally started to decline to start the fall — the combined 8.6% hold was the first under 10% since April. It was only the second occasion in Garden State history that revenue exceeded $100 million, coming in second only to the record $114.8 million in November 2021.
The amount of money raised was sufficient to give New Jersey the first state to achieve $3 billion in operator winnings in the post-PASPA period, surpassing the milestone by $80 million. Sportsbooks have already earned $709 million this year, which is 37.2% more than they had at this point in 2022. Tax revenue increased by more than $14.2 million, bringing the yearly total above $90.8 million and surpassing the pace of last year by nearly $24.7 million.
When it comes to parlay wagering, New Jersey sportsbooks have been on a historic winning streak against the public. By reaching a hold percentage of 22.2% in September, they extended their streak of holds 20% or higher to six straight months. The state's multi-leg wagering revenue of $68.2 million was the second-highest amount ever recorded, trailing only the $70.8 million in November 2021 and above the previous record of $57.2 million set in October.
However, baseball delivered a larger-than-anticipated boost to the bottom line for the second consecutive month. For $27.5 million in revenue, operators created an 11.1% hold, the highest in-season win rate in baseball history and the second consecutive win rate above 10%. Operators have made close to $56.3 million in the last two months, which is over twice as much as the $57.7 million they made in all of 2022 and more than half of the $109.5 million they have earned for 2023.
When compared to September 2022, football handle increased significantly, increasing by 38.6% to $486.4 million. On those bets, the public restricted the house's hold to 1.8%, leaving operators with $8.8 million, which is less than half of the $18.1 million from the first full month of football betting last year.