New Jersey Sports Betting Handle Beats Out Las Vegas During May 2019

Brian Sausa, Last Updated: June 7th, 2021 - NJ Sports Betting - Free $3,250 For Sports Bets In New Jersey

For the very first time, a state other than Nevada gets to call itself the industry leader when it comes to generating sports betting handle. Well, at least for a month it does. After taking in a staggering $318.9 million in sports betting wagers during May 2019, New Jersey sports betting beat out the Goliath that is Las Vegas in handle by about $1.5 million.

Las Vegas and sports betting have been synonymous with one another for decades. So much so, that when referring to the seemingly all-knowing oddsmakers who set lines for sporting events around the country, we simply call the operation ‘Vegas’ to note it’s the mecca for sports wagering. Now, the Garden State has something to say about that as sports betting in the United States continues to grow and New Jersey has become the poster child for its spread. 

It marks the first time that more money was wagered legally in a state other than Nevada, with New Jersey accomplishing that feat in less than a full year on the market. 

FanDuel Sportsbook Dominates The Cash Cow That Is NJ Sports Betting

Since launching in July 2018, New Jersey sports betting has steadily grown into the bohemoth that we’re looking at today with the help of the online platform and a wide range of strong sports betting sites in NJ.  

At the top of the mountain are FanDuel Sportsbook and the DraftKings Sportsbook app, both of which are playing enormous roles in the steps the Garden State has taken toward competing with the Nevada sports betting machine. After DraftKings paced the financial race in 2018, the FanDuel Sportsbook app has taken over in the first full year of NJ sports betting and has already helped pull in over $42 million in revenue in 2019 alone. 

Around 80 percent of wagers were placed on mobile devices, leaving the door open for NJ online sports betting operators to continue making noise as that number is expected to rise in the coming years.

Can New Jersey Sports Betting Keep Up The Pace?

In the short term, the answer is yes. Long term, the Garden State will have to deal with competition it hasn’t needed to worry about much up until this point. 

New Jersey has been able to dominate its geographical area by not only attracting players in its own state, but via benefit of neighboring states dragging their feel a bit. New York online sports betting will not be arriving before 2020, while mobile sports betting in Pennsylvania just launched in May 2019 for the first time. Land-bases betting in PA has been legal since November 2018, but hasn’t much impacted New Jersey’s output, largely do to the mobile wagering dynamic. 

For the time  being, those looking to place online sports bets in the NY/NJ vicinity will need to do so in the Garden State. As PA online sports betting continues to grow and the Empire State eventually adopts the same measures, New Jersey will likely be unable to control the industry in the same way, though the year-long head start and enormous success its achieved should have a lasting impact. 

Nevada Still King Of The US Sports Betting Castle

Despite NJ sports betting scoring a huge victory in May 2019, Nevada is still the premier  territory when it comes to legal sports betting in the United States and the numbers show the Garden State is growing the industry rather than taking from Las Vegas’ share of it.

Since becoming legal in July 2018, New Jersey has produced over $3 billion in sports betting handle. In that same amount of time, Nevada has raked in over $5 billion, including its most lucrative month ever during March 2019. The NCAA Tournament and March Madness helped Nevada total nearly $600 million in bets, showing Nevada isn’t going anywhere when it comes to generating dollars from sports betting.

ABOUT Brian Sausa

Brian Sausa is BonusSeeker’s Copy Editor and lead sports betting pundit. A journalism graduate with an extensive sports background, Brian has been employed by multiple professional leagues including MLB, MiLB (Minor League Baseball), and the NHL. MLB, NHL, IBTimes, Brooklyn Cyclones, FanSided