Has New Jersey Surpassed Nevada As The Top Gambling State?

• Over $3 billion has been bet on sports throughout the first quarter of 2019.
• New Jersey has brought in $2 million more than Nevada in tax contributions from sports betting.
• FanDuel and DraftKings have brought in 48% of sports betting revenue in NJ.

Tallahassee, Fla. – Only three months into the 2019 sports betting year, bettors had accumulated a total handle of $3.02 billion per recent revenue reports from legal sports betting states.

The handle is the amount of money risked from sports bettors, when entering into their wagers. After the legal and licensed sportsbooks remove the bettors’ winnings, the remainder is considered revenue, which is taxed at a rate determined each state, independently.

To reference, Nevada books throughout all of 2018 set a record, taking in over $5 billion in wagers.

Now, only a quarter of the way through the year, Nevada’s career-best year is on schedule to be old news, as the eight states who are currently accepting bets have eclipsed 60% of that mark.

However, don’t discredit the former monopolized sports betting state. Nevada has accumulated $1.55 billion in total wagers through March – on track to beat last year’s record by 22%.

It is obvious that the highest handle would belong to Nevada sports betting; however, there aren’t many who thought New Jersey sports betting would take off so quickly.

Since the beginning of the year through March, New Jersey bettors have wagered a total of $1.07 billion. With their casino market in Atlantic City being similar to that of Las Vegas, they have been giving Nevada a run for their money… no pun intended.

Aside from NJ, the only state to post a handle over $100 million in the first three months of the year is Pennsylvania, which has just beaten that level at $108 million. Mississippi is not far behind, taking in just under $93 million during the same time period.

But back to New Jersey. Being just behind Nevada in total wagers has also led to the sportsbooks being close in total revenue as well. New Jersey operators have kept $63.1 million in revenue, while Nevada is leading the pack with $83.1 million.

This brings forth the question – can New Jersey pass Nevada as the most popular gambling state?

When looking past sportsbooks’ revenue and into state tax contributions, New Jersey is already making their case as the top gambling destination.

Granted the tax rates of 8.5% (land-based), 13% (online), and 14.25% (horse racetrack locations) in New Jersey are higher than the 6.75% rate in Nevada, but NJ bettors have accumulated more money for their state government than Nevada.

New Jersey has seen $7.7 million contributed to the state, whereas Nevada has “only” brought in $5.6 million.

Though Nevada books may have taken in more money and have kept more revenue than NJ, it all comes down to what you can contribute to the state. In this case, New Jersey is poised to become the leader of the US sports betting market.

Only time will tell throughout the year if these numbers will hold or if another state will surpass Nevada as well. Pennsylvania, for example, has brought $2 million less than Nevada in tax contributions and with a tax rate of 36%, they may be able to join NJ as the leaders of the industry.

But one thing is for sure, even with the influx of legal sports betting states, Nevada isn’t backtracking, nor seeing smaller numbers across the board.

News tags: Nevada | New Jersey | sports betting