Online Casinos Bring in Millions of Dollars to New Jersey

Since sports betting has been legalized in New Jersey, the state has seen an increase in revenue. Official data from 2019 shows that the revenue New Jersey has cashed in from gambling is quite staggering, measured in millions of dollars.

It is common knowledge that gambling is a very lucrative business, but the example of New Jersey can serve as an incentive for other states to follow the same path. This state has an 8.5% revenue tax for land-based sportsbooks, 13% for casino-based sportsbooks and 14.25% for those based on racetracks.

New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement has revealed that more than 5,272 million dollars were wagered on sports bets since the first sportsbook was launched in this state. Over that period, NY sportsbooks have made a revenue of over 365 million dollars, while about 43 million went to the state’s account through the sports betting tax.

The profits harvested from gambling have increased significantly over the last couple of months. Last September, for example, New Jersey saw its players wagering a record-breaking $445 million on sports. That figure is still the highest monthly total bet in the state since the ban on sports betting was lifted in 2018.

Also read…New Jersey Sports Betting in Numbers 

That month saw New Jersey become a serious competitor to Nevada, a state famous for its gambling-friendly attitude. Although Nevada is still the number one state when sports betting revenue is concerned, New Jersey seems to be on a very good road to surpass it.

In March 2019, Nevada set the record for the biggest total bet in a calendar month, when almost $600 million was wagered on sports. New Jersey is still far from breaking that record, but if the trend continues, we might see NJ becoming the leader in sports betting in North America.

New Jersey was the state that launched the talk about sports betting legality in 2018 when this state went before the Supreme Court to appeal the ban. In May 2018, the Court declared that there was no legal ground to keep sports betting illegal in the United States on the federal level.

However, they let individual states to come up with the final decision. Just a few weeks after the Supreme Court decision, New Jersey legalized sports betting. June 14, 2018, was the date when the first sports bet was made within the borders of New Jersey.

The first venue to open a sportsbook in New Jersey was Monmouth Park, followed by Borgata. The number of NJ sportsbooks increased quickly to 10 retail books. Besides, 17 sportsbooks are operating online and/or having their mobile apps.

Sports betting is not the only form of gambling that is legal and regulated in this state. For more than six years, New Jersey has been operating in the casino and poker industry.

In the past, gambling was thought of as a sort of taboo in most parts of the US, but in recent years, things have changed. Today, gambling is a perfectly acceptable hobby for many Americans, which revenue figures from 2019 prove.

The legalization of sports betting and other forms of gambling have also helped New Jersey’s tourism. According to official reports of the New Jersey tourist board, Atlantic City now has about 27 million people visiting every year, which makes it one of the favorite travel destinations in the entire country. Due to this fact, the AC has become a true gaming capital of the East Coast. And it seems that local residents are more than happy with it.

A recent survey by the American Gaming Association (AGA) revealed that most Americans have a positive attitude towards gambling. Also, more than two-thirds of them said they think of casinos as a form of high-quality entertainment rather than thinking of gambling as a vice.

About 50% of those surveyed said that they believe the casino industry is a good thing for the community. If used the right way, the money gained through the gambling tax can have a fantastic impact on local communities. Furthermore, the legalization of different gambling forms can also lead to creating new jobs, as seen in the example of New Jersey.

Of course, some believe all forms of gambling are bad. Still, their number is low, particularly because the gambling laws are pretty sticks. For example, to be allowed to gamble, a New Jersey resident needs to be at least 21 years old, providing some sort of ID to confirm they’re of legal age.

Moreover, to get the gambling license, sportsbooks and casinos from New Jersey need to fulfill several criteria, all of which are made to ensure fair play.