A total of $4.55B was "wagered at New Jersey sportsbooks" in '19, the first full calendar year of legal sports wagering in the state, with $3.8B "wagered online," according to Stephen Edelson of the ASBURY PARK PRESS. This yielded $299M in "gross revenue" and $36.7M in "tax revenue for the state." New Jersey sportsbooks are now "closing in on Nevada," which has had sports betting since '49, as total handle at Nevada sportsbooks through the first 11 months of '19 was $4.74B. New Jersey had "more money wagered in July and August than Nevada." The "top two players in the market" have been FanDuel and DraftKings. FanDuel "operates the FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands, the state's largest sportsbook," while DraftKings has "partnered with Resorts in Atlantic City." Football was the "most popular sport to wager on" in '19, with $939M in "completed bets on the NFL and college games, narrowly edging out basketball," which had a total handle on completed bets of $934M (ASBURY PARK PRESS, 1/15).
AROUND THE COUNTRY: In Indianapolis, Dana Hunsinger Benbow noted Indiana saw $436M "wagered on sports" from Sept. 1-Dec. 31. People within the state "forked out more and more as the months passed," with $161.8M, up from $147.3M in November, $91.7M in October and $35.2M in September. Mobile betting, which recorded its first full month in October, made Indiana one of only three states in the country to "offer on-the-go sports gambling, along with New Jersey and Pennsylvania." Much of the state's betting, 68%, is "taking place on mobile devices" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/15). Meanwhile, the AP noted the Rhode Island sportsbook "made nearly 2 1/2 times more in sports betting revenue last month compared to the previous December," increasing from $957,000 in December '18 to $2.5M in December '19. The state lottery said that nearly $2M of that revenue was "generated by one game," the Patriots' late-season upset loss to the Dolphins (AP, 1/14).
