New Jersey Sports Betting Revenues to Eclipse Nevada’s in Just Three Years

Posted on: September 10, 2018, 10:21h. 

Last updated on: September 10, 2018, 10:21h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

New Jersey’s sports betting market will overtake Nevada’s by 2021, according to new analysis by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG).

New Jersey Sports Betting
The MetLife Stadium in North Jersey, home to the New York Giants and Jets. Across the parking lot is the Meadowlands racetrack where you can now bet on the games at the FanDuel sportsbook. (Image: Lloyd Brown/Stadium Journey)

It’s almost four months since New Jersey’s Monmouth Park racetrack took the state’s first legal sports wager and there are now seven live sports books and seven mobile betting apps jostling for position in this fledgling but rapidly growing sector.

The advent of the new NFL season saw a handful of last minute entrants in the mobile arena, with FanDuel, William Hill, and Caesars all going live in the week prior to kick-off, and 888 joining the fray today (Monday).

Meadowlands Thriving Next to MetLife

It also meant that at East Rutherford, North Jersey on Sunday, you could bet the New York Giants at the Meadowlands racetrack’s FanDuel-branded sports book, before wandering across to the MetLife Stadium to watch the game — although last weekend you should have had your money on the Jaguars.

Meadowlands and MetLife share a parking lot. Given the NFL’s anti-gambling stance, it was once unthinkable that you could legally bet on a team playing in a venue next door — but it served as a potent symbol of victory on Sunday for a state that singlehandedly took on the combined might of the major sports leagues and won.

The Meadowlands and its proximity to the New York metropolitan area will be a strong driver of market growth over the next few years, believes Chris Grove, managing director of sports and emerging markets for EKG.

He notes that during 17 days of operation in July, Meadowlands generated revenues of $1.35 million, “more than any other New Jersey sportsbook, including those that were operational for a full 31 days.” Some fourteen million people live within a one-hour drive of the Meadowlands.

Can New York Get Its Act Together?  

Other factors that will help New Jersey topple Nevada are its population, which is around five times higher, as well as its embrace of mobile sports betting. It’s also expected to benefit from the shortcomings of major competitors in neighboring states.

Pennsylvania has legalized sports books but has opted to tax them too highly, making it an unattractive market for operators. Meanwhile, New York has a bigger population than New Jersey, and is also expected quickly to eclipse Nevada once it legalizes sports betting, but the legislative process has stalled and there is no guarantee it will succeed next year.

In fact, Grove told CDC Gaming Reports this week that New Jersey could overtake Nevada by 2020 if New York fails to get its act together.

The analyst predicted revenues from New Jersey sports betting would reach $35 million by the end of 2018, increasing to $221 million in 2019, before doubling to $442 million by 2021.