Sports betting hit an all-time high for any state with New Jersey's $668 million total in August.
New Jersey's Sports Betting Receipts: New Jersey's total sports betting handle hit $668 million in August, more than double the $315 million reported in July. Online sports betting hit $602 million for New Jersey in August, also a record for any state.
Analyzing New Jersey's Results: The results out of New Jersey will act as a catalyst in two areas, Matias Dorta, an associate at Roundhill Investments, the company behind the Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF BETZ, told Benzinga.
“One, it will speed up the legislation of sports betting in other states. Two, 90% of the handle in New Jersey’s record setting month was online,” Dorta said.
The success of New Jersey's sports betting market is positive for bettors, sportsbook operators and local government, he said.
“I believe the combination of both of these factors will speed up the time to market maturity and strengthen the overall addressable market.”
The previous high for New Jersey for online sports betting was $489 million in December. That number fell each month until August with monthly totals of $471 million, $436 million, $163 million, $55 million, $118 million, $165 million and $296 million, respectively, from January to July.
Online sports betting figures also soared higher in other states where it's legal.
Indiana saw gross volume of $169 million, which was over $100 million higher than the previous month.
Iowa's gross volume increased 120% to $50.3 million.
West Virginia saw its online sports betting handle almost triple to $45.9 million. Pennsylvania also set its record in August with $365 million, according to The Action Network's Darren Rovell.
What’s Next For Sports Betting: The return of NFL and college football games could help legal sports betting break more records.
In September 2019, New Jersey had total sports betting volume of $445.6 million, which was a state record at the time. Of that total, $188.6 million was bet on football games.
“I expect to see another record setting month in September. Every major professional sport is in action this month, but most importantly, the NFL is back,” Dorta said.
A Gallup poll that shows 37% of Americans listing football as their favorite sport to watch is a great reason to be excited for September numbers, he said.
BofA Securities' Shaun Kelley is watching sports betting growth and legalization.
The analyst has a Buy rating on Penn National Gaming PENN and Neutral rating on DraftKings Inc. DKNG. “There are a number of key states that are live for the 2020 football season that were not active in 2019, mainly Colorado and Illinois,” Kelley said in a note.
“Michigan, which is expected to go live for mobile later this year, may be the most important state to watch.”
Benzinga’s Take: The increased sports betting volume and the return of football is good news for major online sports betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Penn National Gaming is set to launch its sports betting app under the Barstool brand later this week.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
