New Jersey's first month of sports betting is in the books.
The Garden State took in over $16.4 million in bets from June 14-30, winning just under $3.5 million, for a hold percentage -- the amount the house keeps of the amount wagered -- of 7.8 percent. Sports betting generated just under $300,000 in tax revenue for the state during that stretch.
"Handle has been really strong," said MGM vice president of race and sports Jay Rood, who oversees the sportsbook at the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. "We haven't seen a drop-off after the first couple of days. It continues to be strong. We're pretty happy with what's going on."
New Jersey opened up sports betting at Monmouth Park, in Oceanport, and the Borgata on June 14, one month after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal ban on state-sponsored sports betting was unconstitutional. The Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City opened its sportsbook June 28. Of the more than $3.4 million won in June, nearly $2.28 million came from Monmouth Park.
For context, Delaware (the second state, after Nevada, to offer legal sports betting) had approximately $1 million in revenue from over $7 million in bets in its first month (June 5-24), for a hold percentage of better than 14 percent. In comparison, Nevada sportsbooks' hold percentage has been 5.5 percent since 1992.
Numbers for Nevada sportsbooks aren't out yet for June, but in May the Nevada books won $15.8 million off roughly $239 million wagered.
Of the more than $16.4 million wagered in New Jersey, a little over $1 million was placed on futures wagers.
"We are extremely pleased with our numbers," Dennis Drazin, president and CEO of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth Park, told the Asbury Park Press. "We think they show there is a huge appetite for sports betting. To be generating these numbers early, and it's not even football season yet, speaks enormously of the potential for when football season comes around. So we're thrilled by the early numbers."
