New Jersey Sportsbooks Cool Off In February

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported $67.6 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue Friday as the Garden State sportsbooks cooled off from their record-setting start to the year.

The 6.3% hold on $1.08 billion handle was down close to 3.7 percentage points from January, when operators thrashed the public to collect $170.8 million in winnings — the fourth-highest monthly total nationwide since sports betting became available on a state-by-state basis outside Nevada in 2018.

February’s total, though, was still 23.7% higher than the $54.6 million in AGR reported for February 2023. Operators claimed $8.5 million in revenue from Super Bowl LVIII compared to $12.8 million the year prior.

Handle was up 27.6% versus the previous February as the Garden State’s $2.8 billion worth of wagers in the first two months is running 45.1% ahead of last year’s pace. While February’s operator revenue plunged 60.4% from January, the year-to-date total of $238.3 million is up a robust 87.7% from 2023.

The state collected $9.1 million in tax revenue from operator winnings, raising the total from the first two months to $31.3 million. That is $14.8 million ahead of last year’s pace through combined January and February totals.

Four licensees post losses on the mobile side

sports betting apps in February as the hold for digital betting was in line with the overall 6.3% win rate. Four license-holders finished February in the red, with the biggest loss coming from Freehold Raceway at -$2.3 billion. ESPN BET, PlayUp, and betPARX are licensed through the harness track, and February’s losses were nearly double the $1.2 million that bettors came out ahead in January.

SportTrade, which operates via Bally’s, posted its largest monthly loss as bettors came out $413,895 ahead and wiped out all but $168,000 of its January revenue. Fellow betting exchange platform Prophet also took a six-figure loss for February, paying out $406,684 above its intake. That put Prophet in a slight deficit for 2024 as it’s now down $34,929.

The two mobile books licensed to Golden Nugget — its own platform and Betway — posted a loss of $158,683, knocking it $91,211 into the red for 2024.

The trio of online sportsbooks licensed to the Meadowlands — FanDuel, SuperBook, and PointsBet — paced all venues with $33.5 million. That was less than one-third the $109.3 million haul it made in January that powered the record-setting amount for the state.

DraftKings had its month-over-month revenue slip 40% to $24.2 million after surpassing $40 million in winnings for just the third time overall in January.

Caesars digs itself a deeper hole for retail betting

There were three brick-and-mortar venues that had monthly losses for February, with two — Caesars and Resorts — falling into a deeper hole after January losses.

Bettors came out $128,200 ahead at Caesars, putting its deficit at $517,000, while the $97,700 loss posted by Resorts leaves it down $233,500 for the first two months of the year.

Tropicana was the other retail book to end February with a loss as the betting public came away $10,387 ahead. The Meadowlands accounted for nearly 75% of the $2.1 million in retail sportsbook revenue for the month with close to $1.6 million, while Monmouth Park was a distant second with $259,500.

All-time retail sportsbook revenue in New Jersey inched over $300 million with February’s total as the venues have claimed $6 million to start 2024.