New Jersey saw its sports-betting handle slide in February, with wagering falling below the billion-dollar mark for the first time in months.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported Wednesday that the state’s retail and online sportsbooks took about $985.6 million in bets for February.
February’s haul was a 26.9% decrease from the New Jersey record of nearly $1.35 billion in handle that was set in January. It also snapped the state’s five-month streak of $1 billion or more in monthly sports betting that began in September.
Last month’s wagering was, however, still an approximately 32.7% increase from February 2021’s $743 million.
New Jersey bookmakers generated $30.9 million in sports-wagering revenue last month as well, a 48.7% decrease from January’s $60.1 million. It was also lower than the $46.2 million in revenue recorded for February 2021.
As a result, the unofficial hold for New Jersey sportsbooks last month was 3.1%, down from their 4.5% win rate in January.
A neighborly change
The Garden State has now seen $2.33 billion in sports wagers for the two first two months of the year and appears to be well on its way to surpassing last year’s mark of $10.93 billion in handle.
However, the drop-off in both handle and revenue at New Jersey sportsbooks in February came as the sports schedule cooled a bit and as legal online sports betting in next-door New York ramped up further following its January launch.
Online sportsbooks in New York have generated more than $3 billion in mobile sports wagering handle in just their first two months of operation. Some of that is likely coming from customers who previously took their business to New Jersey.
February’s wagering in New Jersey was also driven by basketball, which accounted for more than half the completed events handle for the month at $503.1 million. That came even though the state does not have a basketball team, albeit the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks are just one state over.
Football, however, was somewhat of a letdown for the month. February had just one NFL game, the Super Bowl, which is historically the most bet single event in the country. Yet the DGE attributed just $88.3 million in handle last month to solely football.
Other sports generated $207.6 million in wagering for New Jersey. Parlays made up another $192.1 million.
Meadowlands on top
All of the New Jersey facilities that take sports bets saw less revenue than the previous month, and most also slipped on a year-to-year basis.
The top sportsbook in New Jersey in terms of handle in February was Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment, which is partnered with FanDuel, PointsBet, and SuperBook for online wagering.
Last month, the horse racing track in East Rutherford had $13.9 million in revenue, far above the second-place licensee, Resorts Digital, which brought in $8.6 million.
