Battle for supremacy
New Jersey has taken in a larger sports betting handle than Nevada in three of the last four months. The two states have been going toe to toe each month to be the leader of sports betting in the United States.
only the third time ever that Nevada was second in the monthly rankings
In August, New Jersey saw a sports betting handle of $293.5m. It was only the third time ever that Nevada was second in the monthly rankings, having taken in $288m in sports bets during August.
Sportsbook revenue comparisons
Despite the fall in the rankings, the August sports betting handle in Nevada was a 16% increase year-on-year. The Nevada sportsbooks saw revenues of $18.7m in August, which was a hold of about 6.5%. The bulk of the sports betting handle came from football games, with $72.3m wagered on football.
Total sportsbook revenue in New Jersey for August was $25.2m, which is a 174% increase in comparison to August 2018, when sportsbook revenues were $9.2m. August revenues also saw a strong increase from July when revenues were $17.9m.
For the year to date, basketball and baseball have seen the most money wagered in the state. However, this will likely change with football starting again and continuing through the end of the year.
In terms of the best-performing sports betting markets in New Jersey for the operators, parlay bets have a 12.9% hold rate for the books. The baskteball hold rate is 4.6%, while for football it is 4.2%.
Overall success of gambling sectors
In terms of total gaming revenue, Nevada generated $952m during August. This was a year-on-year increase of 4.3%, with the majority of the revenues coming from the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.
New Jersey surpassed Nevada in sports betting handle for the first time in May
August was the first month that Nevada’s total gambling revenues fell below the $1bn mark since May. New Jersey surpassed Nevada in sports betting handle for the first time in May, and it has not strayed far from this number-one position since.
With nearby Pennsylvania now offering retail and online sports betting, there will be a lot more competition for the Garden State.
Emphasis on mobile sports betting
Of the $293.5m sports betting handle in New Jersey for August, $249.2 was wagered at mobile sportsbooks. This means 85% of all sports bets came through online sports betting sites.
New Jersey is the standout example of what a state can achieve with legal online sports betting. There are now 16 legal online sportsbooks operating in its market. Nevada does not have the same emphasis on mobile sports betting, with only about half of its handle coming from online sources.