What happens when you merge online sports betting, in-person casino betting, and the state of New Jersey? The answer, based on recent reports, is massive amounts of revenue. In the month of October, the Garden State saw a year-on-year 9.3% increase in its gambling revenue.
In October of 2022, the total market revenue in the state was approximately $446 million. In Oct. 2023, that number was more than $487 million.
What exactly is driving the noticeable jump in revenue over the course of the last 12 months?
Let’s dive into it.
FanDuel at Front of the Pack
The FanDuel brand is virtually synonymous with online sports betting. Because of the wide variety of sports, markets, and boosts available at the book, it’s one of the industry’s go-to sites that fans and bettors trust most.
With all this in mind, it’s not surprising that FanDuel led the market share for New Jersey’s big October revenue report.
FanDuel Sportsbook at Meadowlands Racing — a sports betting center located in East Rutherford, New Jersey — dominated all the state’s other betting locations. As a matter of fact, Meadowlands eclipsed $60 million in total revenue in October, and NJ gets about $7.7 million of that in taxes.
But the sports part of the puzzle is an important piece to consider while examining how New Jersey’s YOY revenue increased. That’s because sports betting, specifically, boasted YOY 18.4% growth in October while retail slots revenue declined. In October of last year, sports betting in the state was just shy of $78 million. A year later, that number is more than $92 million.
Sports Equinox October
Another factor that could be responsible for driving New Jersey’s successful October is the confluence of sports that were available for bettors to wager on in the month. College football, NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB were all in action during October.
Making October even more magical was the sports equinox that happened on Oct. 31. On that day, all four major American sports leagues were played. That meant that bettors had even more opportunities to try their luck at FanDuel and at other operators.
Looking Ahead
With MLB out of the picture and the college football regular season winding down, will New Jersey and other states see dips in their revenue? Or will growing interest in sports betting help keep these numbers moving up the charts?
Keep checking GamingToday as we follow the numbers.