New Jersey Shatters Own Record for Sports Betting Handle in 2021

New Jersey sports gamblers shattered their 2020 betting record, wagering more than $10 billion on sports in 2021.

The $10.93 billion annual handle, published Friday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, blew away the $6 billion bet last year, which was also a record for any state.

New Jersey gamblers reached the eight-figure mark by betting more than $1 billion a month for the last four months, obviously bolstered by both NFL and college football. The December handle was $1.22 billion.

Sportsbooks won $815.7 million from New Jersey bettors, a 7.4 hold percentage, which is a larger hold than industry average.

New Jersey was helped by being a first mover in the space, not surprising considering it was their case that resulted in the Supreme Court changing its opinion in May 2018 on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.

Bettors also have 22 mobile sports books to bet on, more than any other state. The handle was also significantly bolstered by the fact that New York, for another year, failed to allow mobile sports betting, a move that was finally embraced on Jan. 8, with four of the nine mobile sportsbooks going live.

How much New Jersey will be displaced by New York is not known, but many expected Nevada to get hurt by mobile sports betting in other states and the home of Las Vegas is in line to have a record year in 2021.

New Jersey did what it did despite the fact that betting on college teams or college games played within the state is prohibited. Rutgers has actually been a decently popular team to bet on and it also has meant no betting on games featuring Seton Hall, who is enjoying a Renaissance.