Nevada has offered sports betting for decades now and was able to have a monopoly so to speak in the United States due to a legislation restriction. However, once the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was struck down in May 2018, many other states got in on the sports betting action, including New Jersey. The Garden State has quickly gained ground on Nevada, even eclipsing them a few times when it comes to monthly sports betting handle and revenues. In October, the reports for sports betting in both states show that together, Nevada and New Jersey saw more than $1 billion wagers take place within the sports betting industry. This is certainly a milestone and shows just how popular sports betting is in the United States.
State by State Breakdown
The sports betting handle for Nevada came in at $543.9 million in October, which is 2.9% higher than the same month in 2018. Revenues were up an amazing 62.1% with $47.9 million earned. For New Jersey, the state hit $487.9 million in wagers which is a new record for the region. This was a whopping 87.2% more than the previous year.
Nevada continues to do well despite the competition and New Jersey only gets better and better when it comes to their sports betting industry as well as other areas such as online casino gaming. The two are the ones to beat as other states in the US begin to set up their sports betting industries.
One area to watch as another competitor is Pennsylvania. The state already offers retail based sports betting and will have more mobile sports betting in the mix coming soon. As the industry grows, it is expected that Pennsylvania will give both Nevada and New Jersey a run for their money, especially New Jersey since it is a neighboring state.
Other states are alaso offering sports betting including West Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Washington and Colorado. Other states are working on launching services as well as introducing legislation to be a part of the bustling industry as well.
Leading New Jersey
In the Garden State, revenues increased due to operations by FanDuel and PointsBet. Partnered with the Meadowlands, the grouping brought in almost $25 million in revenues from October. A huge majority of that number, over 83%, came from FanDuel alone.
Players in New Jersey have really taken to FanDuel and their online offering. The brand continues to be the top operator and is expected to hold the top revenue spot again for November.
As 2019 comes to a close, we will have a few more glimpses as to how Nevada and New Jersey compare by way of sports betting. Going into 2020, there will be more opportunity to compete the two as well as new comparisons as the sports betting market in other states, like Pennsylvania, continues to grow and mature. We will stay on top of all the new reports and provide insight into to how each state is operating as the data is released.
