New Jersey’s sports betting market saw $803 million placed by gamblers in the month of October – a national record for a single month in the United States.
The state’s Division of Gambling Enforcement released figures for October that showed casinos and horse racing tracks in New Jersey received $803,096,172 from bets placed in the month.
Record-Breaking October for New Jersey
The sum showed an increase in betting activity compared to August and September in the state. New Jersey has broken the record for the amount of money spent on sports betting for a third straight month after gamblers placed bets that totaled $667.9 million in August and $748.5 in September.
Since the beginning of 2020, punters in New Jersey have placed an eye-popping $4 billion worth of sports bets overall. The state could break Nevada’s record for the number of bets placed across an entire year, where gamblers wagered $5.3 billion on sports throughout 2019.
Casinos and race tracks in New Jersey saw a 15 percent increase in revenue for October due to the increase in betting activity. However, the majority of this profit came from online wagers and sports betting as opposed to physical bets made inside venues.
The Ocean Casino Resort was the biggest benefactor from the increase in betting activity, posting an increase in revenue of 37 percent compared to October 2019, which led CEO Terry Glebocki to thank the people who continued to place bets despite the challenging context of the COVID-19.
Hard Rock showed an increase of over 25 percent for the month while Golden Nugget also profited from the increase in bets, posting a 21.2 percent gain in profit throughout the month.
Chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, James Plousis, believes the record-breaking October is a reflection of the sports betting market’s rally against the limitations to physical gambling that are currently in place across Atlantic City and many parts of the US.
Struggles Continue Inside New Jersey Casinos Despite Increase in Online Activity
New Jersey casinos saw revenue from in-person bets dip by 8 percent. Venues are still operating at a quarter of full capacity due to state-imposed rules to stop the spread of COVID-19. $186.1 million worth of bets took place from physical visits to casinos for October.
Although there was an overall boom in New Jersey’s betting market in October, casinos continue to struggle because of the ongoing pandemic and many gamblers have become more comfortable placing bets from home. Revenue from bets made online almost doubled in October with more than $93 million of bets coming from the internet.
In particular, the Borgata has struggled in New Jersey. The casino made 70 redundancies while nearly 350 staff had their hours reduced on Friday, November 13. This action followed a state-imposed 10 pm curfew on the sale of alcohol, which reduced the number of physical visitors to casinos.
Some of New Jersey’s other casinos also posted a loss compared to October 2019 including Harrah’s, down 19.5 percent, and Caesars, who posted a 12.5 percent loss, which reflects how some continue to struggle as restrictions inside casinos remain in place.
From the record-breaking $803 million of bets placed in New Jersey in October, casinos kept $58.5 million. But that number is estimated to reduce significantly after casinos split the money with third-party vendors and sportsbook agencies.
