Sports Betting Stocks Continue Steep Decline Despite New York Launch, New Jersey Record Handle

New Jersey’s record handle in 2021 couldn’t save sports betting stocks from their precipitous fall.

New Jersey reported Friday that sports gamblers in the state wagered $10.9 billion in 2021, but public companies did not see a bounce.

While nothing specific happened to counter the New Jersey news, market insiders have cautioned that good news doesn’t move the needle as much as it used to. The market has started to fear that the marketing spend it takes to acquire customers is just too high.

DraftKings finished the day down 4.3% to $23.19. It put DraftKings down 56.8% year over year, far off its highs from March when it hit $70 a share.

Penn National, owner of Barstool, finished the day down 2.8% to $44.45. PENN is down 55.1% year over year and well off its March highs when shares were approaching $140.

Rush Street Interactive, which owns the BetRivers brand, saw the biggest drop — down 6.1% on the day. That stock is also down more than 50% on the year and that’s only because rumors of a Fanatics acquisition have softened the blow.

The stocks didn’t see a bump when New York came online this week, particularly because volume is such a big focus for the sportsbooks with 51% of gross revenue being the take for the state.