Another month, another sports betting milestone for the Garden State.
On Monday, New Jersey became the first U.S. state ever to surpass $1 billion in sports betting handle in a single month, as the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported $1.01 billion in handle for September 2021.
"We have seen the numbers trending in this direction for a while now," Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata in Atlantic City, told VSiN. "With the return of football in September, that gave the business the boost needed to get over the $1 billion threshold for handle. Our book had a record month in terms of revenue and handle."
New Jersey owns every single one of the top 10 months in sports betting handle among the 28 states with legal and operational sports betting since sports betting was legalized nationwide in May of 2018. The previous high in the state was $996.3 million wagered on sports in December last year. New Jersey has also taken in the most dollars wagered of any U.S. state since legalization with nearly $19 billion, surpassing Nevada earlier this year.
With New York expected to go live with mobile betting in early 2022 and cut into New Jersey’s overall handle, the final few months of 2021 may be the only time we see a state take in over $1 billion in sports betting wagers for a while.
Iowa, Indiana and Michigan are among the states reporting for September that have also set all-time highs in handle.
"The business has certainly grown dramatically in only a few short years," Gable added.
