The $1 billion mark in New Jersey sports betting handle was just out of reach for another month.
New Jersey’s January sports betting handle was $958.7 million — the second-best month ever —according to January numbers released by the NJ Division of Gaming (NJDGE). And the sports betting revenue of $82 million broke the state and national record by more than $15 million.
The Garden State topped $900 million for the third straight month in total sports betting handle. January’s total was down 3.8% from December’s record $996.3 million, but up 77.5% from January 2020’s $540.1 million.
The online/mobile handle in January was $886.7 million, down 4.6% from last month’s national record of $929.3 million, but up 88.2% from January 2020’s $471.1 million. Mobile was 92.5% of the total sports handle in January.
Neighbor Pennsylvania announced its January numbers Wednesday and broke $600 million in sports betting handle for the first time in state history at $615.3 million. Between the two states, total sports betting handle was $1.574 billion dollars for the month.
The total sports betting handle at New Jersey sportsbooks for 2020 was just over $6 billion, a 30.4% increase over 2019’s $4.6 billion. Of the total handle in 2020, $5.53 billion was wagered online — about 92%. Sports wagering revenue for 2020 was $398.5 million. Though January was down slightly from December, the start to 2021 is $418 million more than the start of 2020.
New Jersey Sports Betting, January vs December
| Total handle | Mobile handle | Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | $958.718M | $886.656M | $82.641M |
| December | $996.301M | $929.332M | $66.387M |
| Change | Down 3.8% | Down 4.6% | Up 24.5% |
New Jersey Revenue Sets State Record
The January report also showed that New Jersey sports betting revenue set a state and national record at $82.6 million, up 24.5% from December’s $66.4 million (the previous national mark) and up 54.3% from January 2020’s $53.6 million.
Before New Jersey did it in December, the only time any state had sports betting revenue top $60 million in a month was Nevada, at $61.8 million in November 2020.
Taxes collected from sports wagering totaled $10.36 million, with most coming from the 13% levy on online wagers, $9.64 million.
January total gaming revenue was $346.4 million, up a solid 10.7% from December’s $312.9 million and an increase of 15.2% over January 2020’s $300.7 million.
January’s iGaming win was $103.8 million, up 4.3% from December’s $99.5 million and up 88.4% from January 2020’s $55.1 million.
New Jersey Sports Betting, January 2021 vs January 2020
| Total handle | Mobile handle | Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2021 | $958.718M | $886.656M | $82.641M |
| January 2020 | $540.113M | $471.149M | $53.562M |
| Change | Up 77.5% | Up 88.2% | Up 54.3% |
Strong Start to February in NJ
New Jersey reported a handle of $117.4 million on the Super Bowl, an increase of 116% over last year’s game. New Jersey sportsbooks won a net $11.3 million (about 9.6% hold), according to the NJDGE.
The Super Bowl betting in New Jersey was just behind the leader, Nevada, which saw $136.1 million wagered on the big game.
In the week leading up to Super Bowl, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy raised the capacity level for bars and dining establishments from 25% to 35% and lifted the 10 p.m. deadline to close for those businesses. That relief helped, especially at casinos and sportsbooks.
