In a story that will make Sopranos fans proud, New Jersey is muscling in on Vegas’s action.
Because for the first time ever, more money was bet at New Jersey sportsbooks than at Nevada books in a month.
The month would be May—when New Jersey books took $318.9-million in bets, beating Nevada books took $317.4-million in wagers, according to gaming regulators in the two states.
Sports betting was launched in New Jersey just over a year ago, shortly after the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which restricted the action to Nevada and three other states. New Jersey is one of seven new states in the bookmaking business and roughly a dozen more states will follow.
New Jersey has been the biggest winner. State regulators report that about $3-billion has been bet on sporting events over the past year.
"While we all knew it would be successful, I don’t think anyone expected how quickly New Jersey would come to dominate the growth in the market in the year since our sports betting law took effect, or how advantageously New Jersey would be positioned to dominate the entire marketplace," Murphy told an audience of local and international sports betting operators, software providers and iGaming innovators at the All-American Sports Betting Summit hosted by Monmouth Park last week.
The FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands has led the way among sports books so far with $84.6-million in gross revenues over the past year. At Monmouth Park, the track has gross revenues of $21.7-million. In all, sports betting has generated more than $23-million in tax revenue for the state.
Source: USA Today