A couple hours after Pennsylvania released its all-time high sports betting figures, the New Jersey sports betting numbers were posted, and the handle easily set a national record again.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) released the October numbers Wednesday, and the state’s previous record set last month was shattered. And it will likely continue to post huge numbers until the New York mobile market goes live.
Having an extra NFL betting weekend didn’t hurt New Jersey or any other state in October as just about every state that has posted its numbers has set records.
New Jersey Sports Betting, October vs. September
| Total handle | Mobile handle | Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | $1.303B | $1.179B | $84.152M |
| September | $1.011B | $918.443M | $82.440M |
| Change | Up 28.9% | Up 28.4% | Up 2.1% |
Here are three takeaways from the New Jersey sports betting report posted Wednesday:
Mobile Continues To Be King
New Jersey sports betting posted $1.3 billion in handle, breaking the national record of $1.01 billion in September.
An amazing $1.18 billion of the total sports betting handle was bet on mobile devices, proving the fact New Jerseyans will bet anything within state borders. Mobile represented a 90.5% share of the New Jersey sports betting market in October.
Operators also had to be pleased to set records in sports betting revenue ($84.2 million) and online casino revenue ($127 million).
One More Weekend an Added Bonus
October was the third month this year that bettors had five Saturdays and five Sundays to wager, but the first to fall during the college football and NFL seasons. The numbers proved football's impact.
Earlier this year, January and May both had five Saturdays and five Sundays. The added weekend helped Pennsylvania last month as it registered a record-breaking wagering handle of $776.27 million, eclipsing its former mark of $615.29 million in January of this year (also an extra weekend).
January will ring in 2022 with another five NFL weekends, most of them playoff games, but college football betting will be down to just a handful of bowl games by then. Imagine if the New York Giants or Jets, which play their home games in New Jersey, were in the playoffs? It’s not going to happen this year.
And New Jersey won’t get a boost from in-state college sports betting. New Jersey voters in early November turned a thumbs down to adding betting on in-state colleges or events held in the state.
NJ Sports Betting, October 2021 vs October 2020
| Total handle | Mobile handle | Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2021 | $1.303B | $1.179B | $84.152M |
| October 2020 | $803.096M | $743.899M | $82.440M |
| Change | Up 62.3% | Up 58.5% | Up 43.8% |
New York on the Horizon
With mobile servers currently being set up at four up-state casinos, New York will finally launch live its mobile sports betting industry, perhaps in late December or early January.
The numbers from New Jersey on Wednesday prove the Garden State is doing whatever it can to rake in as much as it can over the final two months of this year. It’s estimated that up to 25% of the wagers in New Jersey are placed by New Yorkers crossing state lines.
It remains to be seen if New Jersey can continue to maintain its record-setting numbers once New York launches. The Empire State will then have its neighbors (Connecticut and Pennsylvania as well as N.J.) all competing for the betting dollar.
Until then, New Jersey is king yet again.
