New Jersey Tops Nevada as King of Sports Betting in 2020
DOMINICK REUTER/AFP via Getty Images. Pictured: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
New Jersey officially became the new king of sports betting on Thursday when the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported its December numbers.
Nevada finished with $4.3 billion in handle, its worst number since 2015. New Jersey finished up the year with $6 billion in handle, having beat Nevada every month.
The biggest gap was the last one. New Jersey finished December with $996 million in bets. Nevada? It took $588.4 million in bets.
The difference was, not surprisingly, mobile betting.
In New Jersey, mobile betting hovered around 90 percent during 2020, while Nevada — which still has required in-person registration to open an account at sportsbook — was around 60 percent.
In person betting and tourism in Las Vegas also took a shot from the affects of COVID-19.
Nevada books won $262 million from bettors this year, compared to New Jersey, whose books took $393 million.
New Jersey and Nevada topped Pennsylvania, Illinois and Indiana among the top five sportsbooks in handle for the year. Indiana's December handle pushed the state across $1 billion for the year.
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