N.J. Sports Betting Handle Increased By 40% In June

• New Jersey totaled $165 million in sports betting handle and $12.6 million in revenue in June—monthly increases of 40% and 28%, respectively.
• Casinos began reopening in early July and major North American sports leagues are already returning to play, which should boost handle and revenue figures considerably.
• With the pandemic situation improving and the 2020 NFL season looming, all signs point toward New Jersey sportsbooks making a near-full recovery within the next three or four months.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – As predicted, sportsbooks in New Jersey continued on their path to steady financial recovery after the initial crash caused by COVID-19.

In June, New Jersey’s total monthly betting handle was $165 million—a 40% increase from the $117.8 million posted in May. From that handle, sportsbooks collected $12.6 million in sports betting revenue for a hold rate of 7.66%.

Total tax collections on June revenue were over $1.6 million, which should help New Jersey considerably as it deals with a huge budget shortfall.

Handle was down 39.6% year-over-year, but revenue actually increased by 30.3%.

No brick-and-mortar sportsbooks in New Jersey were open in June, but all major casinos in New Jersey were able to begin the process of reopening on July 2, so expect retail sports betting to factor into the next revenue report.

Prior to the onset of the pandemic in March, New Jersey was averaging around $500 million in monthly handle, so there is still a considerable amount of progress to be made to fully recover.

NJ Sports Betting Outlook For July-August

New Jersey sportsbooks are due for a considerable boost with the return of both retail sports betting and major North American sports leagues in July.

Major League Soccer has already returned to play. After several initial hiccups forced two teams (FC Dallas and Nashville SC) to withdraw from the league’s MLS is Back tournament, the event appears to have stabilized.

The NBA, NHL, and MLB are also all set to return to play within the next three weeks, which should provide a massive boost to sports betting handle.

In terms of the public health situation, New Jersey is trending in a positive direction, with the average number of daily new COVID-19 cases down to a few hundred rather than a few thousand.

Assuming that trend continues, more people should be able to safely return to casino sportsbooks, which will increase revenue further.

The biggest source of financial relief will undoubtedly be the start of the 2020 NFL season, which is still set for September 13.

Handle and revenue numbers aren’t likely to return to pre-coronavirus levels for a considerable amount of time because of the overall economic downturn, but by the end of 2020, it wouldn’t be surprising to see betting handle in the $350-400 million range.

News tags: Atlantic City | Coronavirus | COVID-19 | MLS | MLS is Back | New Jersey | NFL | sports betting revenue