NJ Sports GGR Improved despite Low May Handle

New Jersey just released data about how sports betting performed in May. According to the figures the state posted, revenues increased from April despite a significant drop in handle.

High Hold Rates Helped the Industry

The official data shows that in May, Garden State sportsbooks collectively earned almost $62 million in gross gaming revenue. This figure marks a significant increase from April’s results where sportsbooks only earned $50.3 million. Notably, May’s results represent a 22.3% increase compared to April’s.

The favorable results are thanks to the high hold rates in May. The 8% hold helped New Jersey experience a month-on-month revenue increase even though the overall handle was far lower than in April. For reference, sportsbooks took a total of $766.4 million in handle last month, which is 17.3% less than the $926.9 million they took in April.

The high hold in May helped the sector overcome the lowest handle month it has had since August last year. However, despite the temporary increase in GGR, the overall tendencies show that revenues are still lower than in 2021. For context, the Garden State’s sports betting industry has earned $269.4 million for the first five months of 2022. This is 9.3% down on the $297.1 million for the same period in 2021.

Meadowlands Racetrack Is an Undisputed Leader

Taking a look at what sports generated the most revenues, it becomes clear that the top three disciplines were baseball, parlay and basketball. To elaborate, the latter earned $193 million, $172 million and $136 million respectively.

The top betting location continues to be the Meadowlands Racetrack. The venue works together with some of the biggest names in gambling, including FanDuel, PointsBet and Superbook. Because of that, it singlehandedly earned $422.7 million of the state’s total $766.4 million in handle. After paying out wins, the Meadowlands Racetrack was left with $35.5 million in revenue, which is more than half of New Jersey’s entire GGR.

DraftKings was the second-best operator and earned $11 million which represents almost a fifth of the state’s GGR.  

Meanwhile, New Jersey’s online casino industry also saw revenues increase in May. The sector saw $136 million in iGaming revenue, representing a 25.7% increase from last year’s $108.2 million. A huge part of this was thanks to the growing popularity of slot games. For reference, the segment earned $133.7 million, which is well over half of the total revenues.