New Jersey has revealed the performance of its online gambling market in June, with sports betting showing positive signs of growth in terms of revenue.

Sports betting handle also rose, with figures in this respect higher than both of the previous two months.  

Gambling in all verticals was again restricted to online means only, with casinos in the state remaining closed throughout the month due to COVID-19. 

In addition to the growth of sports betting, the state’s overall online gambling market also enjoyed a month-on-month revenue increase. 

Sportsbooks make more compared to the same month last year, despite players wagering less 

Regulated sports betting operators in New Jersey generated $12.6 million in revenue between them. This represented a year-on-year increase (June 2019: $9.7 million), while also beating the total that they had made in May ($9.9 million). 

Sports betting handle was also high, despite limited options when it came to… well… betting on sports. Players wagered $165 million altogether, which was 40% more than they had done in May and over triple April’s figures. 

Interestingly, handle was actually 39.6% lower than last June. But despite this, operators ended the sixth month of 2020 with more money in their pockets than before. 

Sportsbooks generated $1.7 million in tax over the course of the entire month. 

Online casino and poker continue to perform well, but miss out on monthly record 

No doubt fueled by the closure of their land-based counterparts and little to bet on in relation to sports, online casino and poker operators had generated a record-breaking $85.9 million in May. However, they were unable to beat that total last month. 

They still performed well, though, bringing in $84.9 million. The state also enjoyed some much-needed tax revenue from them, with these two verticals contributing $12.8 million to state coffers. 

How did the verticals perform combined? 

Bringing together all verticals, operators in the state generated $97.5 million in revenue in June 2020. This was much lower than had been the case in June 2019, when they had brought in $287.9 million between them. 

With that being said, there are signs of recovery. Overall revenue was a little higher than had been the case in May, in which operators made $95.8 million. 

The end of June also means that H1 2020 has now concluded. Online gambling from regulated sources brought in $422.7 million, which was 99.7% higher than had been the case in the first half of 2019. 

How will New Jersey’s gambling market fare going forward? 

It will be interesting to see whether or not the reopening of Atlantic City’s casinos will have much of a say in New Jersey’s online gambling figures. While venues are welcoming back customers, they are also limited to just 25% of their regular capacity. 

PlayNJ.com Lead Analyst Dustin Gouker thinks that gambling in New Jersey will be an important part of the state’s post-COVID recovery – especially casino. He said the below. 

“The Golden Nugget Online Gaming going public, in addition to the recent success of DraftKings stock, shows just how much interest investors have in the future of online gambling.

“Online gambling has proven its importance to the industry through this crisis. Even if the growth slows with the return of retail casinos, it will continue to be an enormously important vertical for the industry.”

Another key factor in how the state performs both this month and in August and beyond is the resumption of sports on a larger scale. The NHL, NBA and MLB are all due to return soon – while the NFL season is set to begin on September 10th. 

PlayNJ.com Analyst Eric Ramsey was optimistic about the next few months in sports betting, and had the following to say. 

“The robust betting on nontraditional sports since the sports world has shuttered has been a surprise, but it will never completely make up for the loss of major sports. 

“Futures will continue to gain steam, fueled by pent-up demand, as the opening of baseball, basketball, and hockey nears. If plans continue to move forward, July and August should produce a significant leap.”