The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported $62.7 million in sports betting revenue for August on Monday as Garden State operators fell just shy of a 9% hold.
Despite the solid number, revenue plunged 34.7% year-over-year in large part due to the betting public performing much better on parlays. The August hold on the multi-leg bets was a year-low 13.4% from $199.7 million handle as sportsbooks claimed $26.7 million in winnings, down 32.7% from 2023, when the house had a 24.1% win rate in keeping $39.7 million of the $164.8 million wagered.
Overall wagering totaled $698.8 million, down 3.7% year-over-year and up 7.1% from July. Month-over-month revenue fell 21.6% as sportsbooks came nowhere near July's 12.3% hold, which fourth all-time in 75 months of commercial betting. The state claimed just over $8 million in tax receipts, pushing the year-to-date total to $92.6 million. That is almost $16 million more than the first eight months of 2023.
Bettors Raise Their Game
Running Top 10 August #SportsBetting handles:
1 NY $1.44B
2 NEW JERSEY $698.8M <-NEW
3 MA $447.3M
4 MD $377.4M
5 NC $370.5M
6 TN $342M
7 IN $307.9M
8 IA ~$167M
9 KS ~$147M
10 OR $56.2M#SportsBettingX#GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 16, 2024
Parlays were not the only avenue of wagering where the betting public improved from its July efforts. The sub-6% hold for the catch-all "other" category, which includes tennis, soccer, golf and MMA, was down more than 2.5 percentage points as month-over-month revenue slipped 36.8% to $11.4 million.
Despite middling months from both the New York Yankees and New York Mets, bettors limited the house to a sub-5% hold on baseball wagers as operators won just over $10 million from $201.5 million wagered. That hold was 1.6 percentage points lower than July, sending month-over-month revenue down 23%.
The lower holds on parlays looks to have impacted FanDuel's bottom line as the marketplace leader for those offerings. Its $24.2 million in revenue still led all operators for August while also representing a low for 2024. Eternal rival DraftKings pocketed $15.5 million, a total that beat out only June's $14.4 million for monthly hauls this year.
BetMGM was a clear-cut No. 3 for revenue among mobile operators with $4.5 million while Bet365 fended off Fanatics Sportsbook for fourth, claiming $3.5 million. The England-based operator was $125,600 clear of Fanatics, which had its best month since the changeover from PointsBet at $3.4 million.
Caesars totaled $2.9 million in winnings from its two license tethers, while ESPN BET had its best month since March at $2.7 million. Hard Rock Bet reached seven figures for the third consecutive month with a year-best $1.3 million, while BetRivers and Borgata's internal app each topped $930,000 in winnings.
On the retail side, the 11 brick-and-mortar sportsbooks combined for $2.4 million in winnings with a 7.5% hold against $32.5 million. Ocean Casino was the only one of the group to post a loss in August as bettors came out $144,340 ahead, sending them into the red for 2024 with a loss of $114,700.
