ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (AP) — New Jersey’s bright red sports betting industry broke a national record in October, surpassing $1.3 billion in monthly bets.
The figure easily surpassed the $1.01 billion worth of bets placed in September by nine of Atlantic City’s casinos and three racetracks offering sports betting.
And with New York State offering mobile sports betting, a cross-border war over sports betting dollars looms, highlighting just how much risk there is. Earlier this month, the state of New York picked a vendor to offer mobile sports betting, with the goal of having it up and running by February’s Super Bowl.
Of the $1.3 billion New Jersey outlets processed in October, nearly $1.2 billion was wagered online.
In the first 10 months of this year, New Jersey accepted about $8.5 billion worth of sports betting.
“Sports betting has taken off with the start of the NFL season, and has exceeded $1 billion in a month,” said Jane Boknewitz, director of Stockton University’s Lloyd Levenson Institute, which studies the gambling industry in Atlantic City. “October 2021’s record sports betting handle is a sign that September will not be a fad, but the first sign of a new level of sports betting participation, at least during the NFL season.” I am proving it.”
Casinos and tracks collectively earned more than $448 million in October, according to figures released Wednesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. This includes face-to-face gambling, internet gambling and sports betting. This represents an increase of approximately 33% since October 2020.
Internet gambling was $127 million, up almost 36% from the previous year. Also, sports betting revenues were $84.1 million, up almost 44% from October last year, after winning wagers paid and other expenses included.
“Atlantic City has effectively built its momentum into the summer and fall season,” said James Prusis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Board of Governors. It outperformed and the other four were just around the corner.All operators have the tools they need to be successful in this market.”
More than half of New Jersey’s sports betting revenue in October was at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, just outside New York City. For the month he earned over $44 million, easily beating out Freehold Raceway (just under $7 million) and Monmouth Park in Oceanport near the Jersey Shore ($4.5 million).
In-person casino winnings in October were $237 million, nearly 28% higher than a year ago.
Borgata had the biggest increase of nearly 61% at $108.5 million. Golden Nugget is up nearly 35% to $14.3 million. Resorts rose more than 27% to $14.6 million, while Hard Rock rose more than 25% to $44.3 million.
Harrah’s rose nearly 25% to $24.3 million. Caesars increased 14.6% to $8.9 million. Tropicana increased 14.3% to $31.1 million. Bally’s was up 12.6% to about $13 million, while Ocean Casino Resort was up more than 10% to $32.1 million.
Hard Rock president Joe Lupo says his casino posted the biggest increase in in-person gambling revenue in the city in October compared to October 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Hard Rock was up $13 million, Ocean was up $12 million and Borgata was up $10 million.