New Jersey Sets New Sports Betting Record In Spite Of Lackluster Atlantic City
New Jersey is still the top sports betting market in the country. The ‘Garden State’ took in a whopping $932.6 million in sports bets in the month of November alone. That is the all-time best handle in a month for any state where sports betting is currently legal. While the state totals for sports betting is gleaming, Atlantic City has continued to struggle with dismal numbers. The nine casinos in the city, sometimes called ‘Monopoly City,’ are struggling to stay in business. In November of 2020, the gross revenues for gaming for those nine casinos dropped by 35% from the same time last November.
The casino totals for November was $146.5 million, which is down by $77 million from last year. Some are blaming on and off casino closures due to COVID-19. According to new reporting from the ‘Press of Atlantic City,’’ the virus has definitely played a role in the less than stellar figures for the beachfront casinos.
Once The Virus Is Under Control, Numbers Should Improve
Jane Bokunewicz, the coordinator of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Tourism, and Hospitality at the University of Stockton, offered her expertise on the current state of affairs in Atlantic City. Bokunewicz said, ‘in spite of the virus is in full swing, land based casinos saw an increase in September and October, which is a positive sign. Land-based also revealed, “The start of a second wave of COVID-19, followed by N.J. Executive order 194, which effective as of November 12, required indoor food and beverage options to be closed from 10pm to 5am likely contributed to the decline.”
There are now 16 states and D.C. that have some form of sports betting up and running. This was the result of the historic Supreme Court ruling of 2018, which overturned a national ban on sports betting, opening the way for the industry to explode, which it has continued to do, despite the worldwide pandemic.
Governor Phil Murphy Celebrated The News
The Democratic Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, celebrated the sports betting news, hours after he advised residents the ‘next few months will be very hard,’ which alluded to the ongoing COVID-19 battle. Of the sports betting numbers Murphy said via Twitter, “BIG NEWS, Our sports betting industry has once again set a monthly record. As the nation’s capital of sports betting, New Jersey is on track to break the $1 Billion per month mark, creating and jobs and strengthening our economy.”
Most of the record-breaking sports bets cast in November were made online; $872 million of the November totals were done online. Sports betting analysts in the ‘Garden State’ are saying that their New York neighbors can not engage in online sports betting. Many New Yorkers have gone over state lines to create online sports betting accounts, so they can participate in online sports betting. In spite of New York voters expressing a desire to have online sports betting in the state, lawmakers have not approved the measure thus far.
