New Jersey Handles $54.2 Million in Super Bowl Wagers

• New Jersey saw a huge year-over-year increase in Super Bowl wagers.
• Despite moderate losses, the expansion of the state’s sports betting industry is a good sign.
• Nevada saw its own record high Super Bowl handle, but the increase was relatively minor.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – With New Jersey-based sportsbooks now reporting financial data from Super Bowl LIV, it appeared that the contest was a runaway success for expansion of the state’s sports gambling industry.

Between its 10 retail books and its 19 mobile betting platforms, New Jersey handled $54.2 million in Super Bowl bets, up from the $34.8 million it handled in 2019. However, these books actually lost $4.3 million on the wagers – a negative hold percentage of nearly 8%.

Despite the losses, a 64% increase in the total handle is an encouraging sign as New Jersey continues to challenge Nevada for sports betting supremacy in the United States. The increase came in spite of the fact that unlike this year, 2019’s game featured a local team – the New England Patriots.

Caesars Entertainment’s regional president, Ron Baumann, who is in charge of the company’s Atlantic City sportsbooks, seemed encouraged by the progress that his state’s sportsbooks showed over the last year.

“We exceeded what we thought we would do by far,” he said in a statement to the Associated Press. “We sold out every seat we had, every inch of seating.”

Caesars’ regional holdings include Atlantic City’s Bally’s and Harrah’s casinos, which struggled to find footing in a crowded New Jersey sports betting market in 2019. If their Super Bowl success is any indication, that could change in 2020.

Nevada released its own Super Bowl figures on Tuesday. The state handled $154.7 million in wagers and brought in nearly $18.8 million in revenue, driven largely by bets on the nearby San Francisco 49ers. This handle is in line with that of the last two Super Bowls, which averaged $152 million.

New Jersey clearly still has a long way to go before it can compete with Nevada as a go-to destination for betting on mega-events like the Super Bowl, but the huge uptick in betting action on the most wagered-on event of the year suggests the potential for continued growth.

News tags: Nevada | New Jersey | San Francisco 49ers | Super Bowl | Super Bowl LIV