NJ shatters its own sports betting record: $748M bet in Sept
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's fast-growing sports betting market blew past its own national record in September, taking in more than $748 million in bets from sports gamblers finally able to wager on football amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Figures released Thursday from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show Atlantic City's nine casinos and the three horse racing tracks that offer sports betting handled over $748 million in bets, easily surpassing the national monthly record they set just a month earlier, when $668 million was wagered on sports in August.
Both figures easily eclipsed what had been the U.S. record of $614 million set in Nevada in Nov. 2019.
So far this year, New Jersey casinos and tracks have taken in nearly $3.3 billion in sports bets alone. That equals or surpasses what Atlantic City used to make in an entire year from casino gambling before sports betting was legalized.
New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case in 2018 allowing all 50 states to offer legal sports betting should they so choose. It quickly dominated the East Coast market and challenged Nevada for the national lead.
The $748 million includes the total amount of bets accepted by the casinos and tracks; after paying off winning bets and expenses, they kept $45 million of that total.
Including casino games, the gambling industry in New Jersey won $323.2 million in September, an increase of 6.5% over last September, when there was no pandemic and casinos were operating at full capacity. Casinos are currently limited to 25% occupancy as a precaution to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The Borgata won $64 million in September, down 2.8% from a year earlier. Golden Nugget won $37.5 million, up 16.3%; Hard Rock won $35.8 million, up 12.5%, and the Ocean Casino...
