The new sports betting industry in New Jersey is quickly beginning to fly.
The total value of bets placed in September almost doubled those of August.
According to official figures released on Friday, the value of total bets placed in September had surged to $183.9 million compared to the $95.6 million’s worth of bets taken in the previous month.
And clearly, the starts of both the NFL and College football seasons had had a lot to do with it.
Said James T. Plousis, chairman of the state Casino Control Commission: “We always knew football was the driving force. We expected them to spike but not by this much.”
According to an announcement by the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), online sportsbook betting, rather than brick and mortar Casino and Race Track wagering, easily accounted for the largest slice of the impressive NJ September betting cake.
Bets placed via PC browsers or mobile apps of sportsbooks like PlaySugarHouse, DraftKings, FanDuel, BetStars, and 888sports increased from $21.7 to $104.9 million.
Against this, land-based cashier-window sales increased $5.1 million to $79 million.
David Rebuck, of the New Jersey DGE, described the September betting surge as “stunning.”
He said in a ‘Press of Atlantic City’ report: “Driven by the explosive growth in sports wagering and continuing improvements in Internet gaming and brick-and-mortar casino win results, the gaming industry produced another month of superb revenue increases,”
“The revenue results point to a strong finish for New Jersey’s gaming industry in 2018.”
In May, New Jersey became the first of the 46 US States where sports betting had, for more than two decades, been illegal under the PASPA law, to finally make it legal after winning a three-year battle that ended with the US Supreme Court declaring PASPA unconstitutional.
To date, eight sportsbooks, mostly owned by or in partnership with some of the World’s biggest offshore international sportsbooks, have opened in New Jersey with more on the way and the state in September had benefitted to the tune of $4.2 million in sports betting taxes.
By 2021, New Jersey’s sports betting industry could overtake the Nevada market, according to predictions in a September analysis by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.
In that year, the consultants believe, New Jersey will take in about $442 million, whereas Nevada is expected to bring in around $410 million.
The report also predicts that as many as 20 online sportsbooks could be running in New Jersey by the end of the year.