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The DraftKings Sportsbook is now live in New Jersey.
New Jersey is showing the rest of the US what legalized sports betting really means. Since it first began on June 14 this year, sports wagering has generated $40.4 million for New Jersey gaming companies and revenue growth is accelerating.
October 12 saw the release of New Jersey’s latest (and highly anticipated) gaming revenue figures for September. New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) Director David Rebuck commented:
“Driven by the explosive growth in sports wagering and continuing improvements in Internet gaming and brick-and-mortar casino win results, the gaming industry produced another month of superb revenue increases. The revenue results point to a strong finish for New Jersey’s gaming industry in 2018.”
September’s numbers are particularly important because they are the first full month of figures for most of the online sportsbooks in the market. All in all, New Jersey earned $24 million in total revenue from legalized sports betting after taking in $184 million in wagers.
DraftKings keeps first mover advantage
DraftKings was the first online sportsbook to launch in New Jersey. It had the market to itself for almost three weeks, and its market-leading position has continued.
The Resorts Casino reports its internet sports betting numbers for both FOX bet, which launched mid-month on September 13, and DraftKings. Most of its $8.5 million in September revenues can still be assumed to be for DraftKings.
The pace of growth is phenomenal. In August, DraftKings made $2.97 million in revenues, so month-on-month it has seen an increase of 186 percent. For New Jersey as a whole, sports betting brought in $24 million, giving DraftKings around a third of the market.
September figures for DraftKings online competitors were:
- FanDuel — $2,852,548, a remarkable performance for its first month of operation
- PlaySugarHouse — $619,030, a sixfold increase on its August revenues of just under $50,000
- William Hill — $292,081, plus another $70,785 from its operations in partnership with Monmouth Park
- playMGM — $120,938
- CaesarsCasino and 888sport — $106,463
Live sports betting honors go to the racetracks
Monmouth Park and The Meadowlands Racetrack got ahead of their casino competitors in the live sports betting arena.
The first New Jersey bets under the new laws were placed at the Monmouth Racetrack, but Meadowlands has the edge on revenues.
Meadowlands reported $4.38 million in live sports betting revenues with Monmouth Park posting a respectable $2.14 million. FanDuel operates the Meadowlands sports book while William Hill runs the one at Monmouth Park.
Of the big name Atlantic City casinos, only the Borgata posted more than $1 million in live sports betting revenues. It took in just shy of $2.4 million.
Ocean Resort may be one of the new kids on the block—it opened on June 28 this year—but it posted the second best casino sports betting revenues of $999,858.
Growth everywhere–except online poker
Online casino games revenue increased by 30.6 percent to $24.1 million. However, online poker let the side down with September revenues of $1.6 million, down 15.4 percent on an annualized basis.
There is always something interesting in the DGE monthly revenue numbers, and the magic number this month is $50 million.
New Jersey took the plunge and legalized internet gambling after the DOJ reinterpreted the Wire Act in 2011. New Jersey led the court case that caused the Supreme Court to overturn PASPA in May this year. And now New Jersey is seeing the benefits.
Over and above the live casino revenues, New Jersey online casino and sports betting are now generating almost $50 million a month in extra revenues for the state’s gaming industry. September revenue was $49.7 million this month, but who’s arguing?
As for the state treasury, there is an additional $26.9 million in gaming tax revenues and other tax equivalents available for the state to use. And that’s from September alone.
New Jersey’s state finances might be in horrible condition, but internet gambling and sports betting are riding to the rescue.
