NJ Records Fourth-Highest Sports Betting Handle in Profitable March

New Jersey recorded its fourth-highest sports betting handle tally in the state’s betting history as wagers picked up to $1.33 billion in March. Handle rebounded after a slow February, in which New Jersey’s operators collected $1.08 billion in wagers.

The Division of Gaming Entertainment (DGE) reported that sports wagering gross revenue was $89.7 million in March, which represented a 3.6% decrease compared to last March’s total of $93 million. March’s revenue reflected a win rate of 6.8%. New Jersey also collected $11 million in tax receipts.

Online sports wagering accounted for the majority of the handle, with $1.29 billion spent on digital books while the remaining $43 million came in from retail sportsbooks. March’s spend also marked online betting crossing $4 billion in sports betting handle this calendar year in New Jersey.

More: New Jersey Sports Betting | Legal Sports Betting States | US Sports Betting Revenue Tracker

FanDuel Leads New Jersey Dominance

The DGE released monthly revenue numbers for online sportsbooks for the first time. FanDuel (Flutter Entertainment 25,43 0,00%) led the dominance, with $29.5 million in revenue in March. While the DGE did not release monthly handle figures, year-to-date (YTD) revenue numbers were disclosed for all online books.

PointsBet made a surprise entry, passing DraftKings to finish second in the revenue ranks for March. PointsBet recorded $20.1 million in revenue in March, taking its tally this calendar year to $55.6 million.

DraftKings (DraftKings 44,84 +0,16%) could only collect $17.6 million in revenue in March. So far, DraftKings has managed $82 million in revenue this year, well below FanDuel’s total of $136.9 million.

Basketball Continues to Top Wagering

The DGE did not release monthly figures for each sport but disclosed YTD numbers for each category. With the NFL in its offseason, betting handle was dominated by basketball, which totaled $1.6 billion in wagers in the first quarter of the year. Sportsbooks collected a profit of $54.3 million from basketball at a win rate of 3.3%.

Parlays were the most profitable category for sportsbooks. Of the total handle of $1 billion, sportsbooks have retained a profit of $203.2 million, indicating a stellar hold rate of 19.2%. The “Other” category, which includes sports like ice hockey, tennis, and soccer, has collected $929.4 million in sports betting handle. At a win rate of 9.1%, sports betting operators have collected a profit of $84.6 million.

Football and baseball have been lucrative for bettors in New Jersey so far this calendar year. Of the total handle of $439.5 million, bettors have collected a combined profit of $4.87 million. Sportsbooks have lost $5.8 million in baseball on total betting handle of $89.6 million, with a negative hold rate of 6.5%.

Gaming Revenue Crosses $500 Million

Casino wins for the nine properties in New Jersey totaled $239.8 million in March, which was a 5% increase from last March’s revenue tally of $228.6 million. Internet gaming wins for the state increased to $197.2 million, which was a 19% increase compared to last March’s total of $165.7 million. In 2024, the total internet gaming win moved to $461.2 million, a 22% increase from the preceding YTD period.

According to the DGE report:

“Total Gaming Revenue reported by casinos, racetracks, and their partners was $526.6 million for March 2024, reflecting an 8.1% increase from $487.4 million reported in March 2023. For year-to-date, Total Gaming Revenue reported by casinos, racetracks, and their partners was $1.55 billion reflecting a 15.7% increase from $1.34 billion reported in the prior year-to-date period.”

New Jersey has witnessed significant year-on-year growth in several metrics. In this YTD period, gross revenue from sports betting has increased to $328 million, almost a 50% rise from the $220 million collected in the same period last year.

In 2023, New Jersey managed close to $12 billion in handle, which is a little under $1 billion per month on average. At a hold rate of 8.4%, New Jersey managed $1 billion in revenue, which resulted in tax receipts of $141.5 million for the state.

New Jersey managed more than $10 billion in sports betting handle in the two preceding years as well, with average tax collection close to $100 million in both those years ($100 million in 2021 and $97 million in 2022). This year’s handle in three months has risen to $4.1 billion without the betting appetite that the NFL’s regular season brings. Based on historical data, betting revenue and handle is expected to cruise to record-breaking highs in 2024 in New Jersey.