Sports betting growth slowed a bit last month in New Jersey and that has imminently prompted questions whether Pennsylvania is to be blamed
Overall betting handle passed the $1.2 billion mark in New Jersey in December, but the growth of the state’s sports gambling market seems to have slowed down a bit, the latest figures released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show.
The Garden State’s physical and digital sports betting operations generated wagering revenue of $20.8 million in December, according to the local gambling regulator’s financial report for the final month of 2018. The figure reported reflected a 2% decline from November’s $21.2 million revenue.
Betting handle for the month of December totaled $319.2 million, down 3.4% from $330.7 million that was wagered in November.
New Jersey’s sportsbooks took in overall revenue of $94 million in the period between June 14, when the state’s first legal sports betting facilities went live at Monmouth Park Racetrack and Borgata Casino, and December 31. Despite the poorer performance of New Jersey’s sports betting sector during the final month of 2018 (compared to previous months), it should be said that the overall sports betting revenue generated last year was a big driver of growth within the state’s gambling market. The $1,247,290,341 betting handle reported for the period between mid-June and December 31 was also another testament to the fact that New Jersey was indeed off to a good start of legal sports betting.
Has Pennsylvania Begun Siphoning Betting Revenue from Its Neighbor?
Although Pennsylvania legalized sports betting well ahead of last year’s landmark ruling of the US Supreme Court that struck down a long-standing federal ban on the practice, the state only launched its first sportsbook late in 2018.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course was the first gambling venue to go live with sports wagering in mid-November, followed by Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia in mid-December. A fourth sports betting facility went live earlier this month at Parx Casino in Bensalem, not far from Philadelphia and not far from the New Jersey border.
While it is too early to say whether sports betting will be a game-changer for Pennsylvania’s gambling industry (bets are that it could be), it should be noted that the state might have started capturing some betting clientele from its neighbor New Jersey.
SugarHouse Casino and its sportsbook is not too far from the state’s border and has probably managed to keep some gambling money within Pennsylvania since its launch. It should also be noted that the property went live with wagering right in time for the Los Angeles Rams’ game against the defending Super Bowl champ Philadelphia Eagles, which certainly prompted higher betting volumes in the latter franchise’s hometown.
With the recent launch of Parx Casino’s betting facility and the upcoming launch of sports betting at Harrah’s Philadelphia and Valley Forge Casino Resort, both located in the greater Philly area, competition for betting customers will certainly intensify between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and that will imminently have impact on revenue. In other words, as the popularity of sports betting grows, interesting times are certainly coming for the gambling industry in that part of the United States.
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