The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported sports wagering handle of more than $1 billion for October, the seventh time the Garden State has cleared the notable benchmark. It was the first time handle surpassed $1 billion since over March’s $1.1 billion tally, and October’s total ranks sixth overall.
The billion-dollar handle, though, again showed the drag New York’s mobile presence has put on New Jersey. Handle compared to October 2021 plunged 18.6%, as last year’s $1.3 billion — with no online competition from the Empire State — ranks No. 2 overall in the Garden State. The $1.9 billion in handle over the past two months is a gaudy total, but also 16.7% lower versus the same period in 2021.
Also of note was the betting public finally getting its bearings and limiting the house to a pedestrian 7.4% hold for October. That was a drop of four percentage points compared to September and the lowest in the state since a 6.2% win rate in July. It also was the lowest monthly hold for any state since Nevada posted a 3.9% win rate for August.
The drop in hold contributed to a 20.5% decline in adjusted revenue versus September to $77.9 million, though that ranks sixth in 53 months of all-time wagering in New Jersey. The state collected $9.9 million in tax receipts, lifting the total for the year over $76 million and just shy of $275 million all-time.
Parlays save the house’s bacon
October #SportsBetting numbers for #NewJersey via DGE, a 🧵. Han/Rev/WR by category (2/2)
🤷♂️(other) $149.88M/$7.52M/5.02%
💸 (parlay) $264.69M/$57.24M/21.62% 👀5/x #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) November 17, 2022
The New Jersey DGE does not break out handle and revenue by operator, but category breakdowns showed bettors having good months in individual sports. The public came out $460,855 ahead on $141 million handle in basketball and held the house to a 3.5% hold in football, as operators claimed just $14.6 million in revenue from $414.1 million in accepted wagers.
The 4.1% win rate for baseball wagering led to $4 million in operator revenue, while the catch-all “other” category — which includes hockey, soccer, golf, and tennis — accounted for $7.5 million in revenue from $149.9 million handle for a 5% hold. But bettors’ inability to put the right combinations together led to operators reaping more than $57.2 million in revenue on parlay wagers, the second-highest total all-time behind the $70.8 million from last November 2021.
The $264.7 million parlay handle meant operators had a 21.6% win rate — the third consecutive month it was at least 21% and fourth time over 20% this year. Parlay revenue has totaled $349.6 million for the 2022 calendar year, accounting for 58.8% of the overall $594.8 million in operator revenue.
Meadowlands also hits milestone
Meadowlands Racetrack, the retail tether to mobile operators FanDuel, PointsBet, and SuperBook, surpassed $1 billion in all-time mobile revenue after the trio combined to generate $42.7 million in winnings for October. It was the second consecutive month and third time overall that the three mobile books topped a combined $40 million, but October’s total was still a ways off the all-time record of $59 million last November.
Resorts Digital, which has DraftKings, FOX Bet, and its own mobile skin among its tethers, was a distant second in revenue at $17.2 million. The Borgata, which serves as tether to BetMGM and its own sportsbook, rounded out the podium spots for revenue with $8.5 million.
Three venues finished in the red for mobile revenue in October: Golden Nugget, Hard Rock, and Harrah’s. Golden Nugget had the biggest loss of the trio at -$122,766, which was also its third monthly loss in 2022. Hard Rock, which is tethered to Unibet and bet365 in addition to its own mobile skin, lost nearly $100,000 for its first monthly loss since paying out nearly $300,000 more than wagers accepted in December 2019.
Harrah’s, which has Prophet Exchange as its lone mobile skin as the now-closed Fubo Sportsbook winds down, finished nearly $35,000 in the red for October.
Photo: Shutterstock
