New Jersey’s September Sports Betting Handle Tops $1 Billion

Dave Schwab Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

The biggest legal sports betting market in the US just set a new record for monthly betting volume. New Jersey came close to topping $1 billion in betting volume in both December of 2020 and in January of this year.

With the start of football in September, that alone was enough to finally push the betting handle over that prominent plateau.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released September’s monthly figures on Monday, Oct. 18. Adding up the betting volume for Atlantic City’s nine casinos along with three New Jersey racetracks, the total sports betting handle was $1.01 billion.

The driving force behind legal sports betting in New Jersey is online business through mobile sportsbook apps. More than 90% of all wagers are booked in that fashion.

Licensed sportsbook operators in the Garden State raked in more than $82 million in sports betting revenue in September. This equates to a hold of just over 8%.

A sportsbook’s hold is the difference between the money paid out on winning bets and the money collected on losing wagers plus the standard 10% commission.

Casey Clark is the senior vice president of the American Gaming Association. He had this to say about this historic accomplishment:

“New Jersey has always been a strong gaming market. Crossing the $1 billion handle mark in September is an impressive indicator of the appetite of New Jerseyans and Americans across the country who have embraced legal, regulated sports betting.”

September was a strong month for New Jersey’s entire gaming industry. Revenue from casino, internet and sports betting reached $453.5 million. This reflects a 40% increase from last September.

As mentioned, New Jersey came close to topping the $1 billion mark last December. The state’s handle that month was $996 million. This was the previous record until the numbers were officially tallied for September’s betting handle.

Through the first nine months of 2021, legal New Jersey sportsbook operators have booked more than $7 billion in bets on sports and sporting events. Much of the Garden State’s success can be attributed to a progressive approach to legal gaming overall.

This state led the fight against the federal government to earn the right to offer legal sports betting. This was also one of the first states outside of Nevada to offer casino gambling in the beach resort town of Atlantic City.

Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa is the biggest land-based casino in New Jersey in terms of gaming volume. This venue’s total gaming revenue for September reached $111 million. This is more than twice its nearest competitor. Hard Rock Atlantic City posted $48.6 million in September revenue.

Written by Dave Schwab, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.

Dave Schwab

Dave Schwab has been covering the sports betting industry for the past 12 years as the main focus of his specialty marketing company for online content. This endeavor followed a previous career in the field of sales and marketing in the wholesaling sector.Most of his weekly pieces focus on the rapidly expanding legal US sports betting industry. However, he still does extensive work covering betting angles that can provide a competitive edge to avid players. Dave believes that it is always a challenge to take past results and current form to try and correctly determine a future result. Sports brings out the unpredictability in what should be a fairly predictable outcome based on the stats, facts and recent trends in a particular matchup. More from Dave Schwab