Sportsbooks had been eagerly waiting for the return of the major leagues in the US and hoped for a healthy boost in revenues after a dry spell. The July numbers seem to confirm that bettors were indeed also itching to wager on their favorite sports again.
Read on to find out how the restart of the NBA and MLB seasons towards the end of the month affected the action in New Jersey and Indiana.
New Jersey handle up by 91% from June
The New Jersey legal sports market has been a tremendous success story – one that we might even see overcome Nevada as the biggest in the country if current growth trends continue.
The bookmakers in the state took a total handle of $315 million – a 91% increase from June and 25% bigger than in July 2019.
Baseball made up for almost $60 million of the handle, while basketball about $21 million in action. There were nine full days of MLB games in July, while the NBA’s restart meant a total of eight games for the month.
With a full month of action for both leagues in August, bookmakers are hoping for another significant increase in these numbers.
$174 million was wagered on the “other” category (including the likes of soccer, UFC, NASCAR and golf) in New Jersey in July. With a full slate of baseball, basketball and hockey games on in August, this category will most likely lose its top spot when the next reports come out.
And with the NFL scheduled to be back in action in September and expected to become the most popular market for wagers again, bookmakers should be looking at some juicy months ahead if things go according to plan.
Indiana total sports betting handle exceeds $1 billion
When we touched on the Indiana numbers in our previous article, we reported the following:
Legal sports betting markets were growing at a rapid pace before the COVID-19 pandemic halted a lot of the action for a while. But in states where mobile betting options are available, things are looking up again and Indiana is no exception.
The Hoosier state reported a $37.3 million handle in May and $29.8 for June. May was a big bump up from April, where the handle was at $26.3 million.
And while the June number dipped from the previous month, it’s important to remember that none of the US major leagues had resumed during these reported periods.
For comparison, the February 2020 handle in Indiana was at $187 million and the number was expected to be over $200 million for the summer months if things were normal.
The numbers were definitely on the rise in the state in July with a reported total handle of almost $71 million, more than doubling from June.
This also meant that the total handle of the legal sports betting market in Indiana since its launch in September 2019 exceeded $1 billion – an impressive feat, considering the difficulties sportsbooks have had to deal with during the pandemic.
There was $14.5 million registered in baseball bets, while the eight NBA games played in July accounted for a handle of almost $6 million. Just like in New Jersey, the “other” category was by far the biggest with more than $33 million wagered, which is bound to change in August.
With the neighboring Illinois mobile betting market now live, the lawmakers in Indiana decided to lift the requirement for in-person registrations for the customers of online sportsbooks in hopes of keeping the action within the state.
Legal sports betting is growing fast
2020 has been a big year for legal sports betting in the US. For some of the latest developments, have a look at our recent articles:
How Legal Sports Betting Has Grown in the Past Two Years
DraftKings Launches Mobile and Retails Sportsbook in Illinois
BetMGM, DraftKings and Circa Sports Making Moves in Colorado
William Hill Takes Over Caesars Sportsbook Operations
Sportsbooks Reopen in Las Vegas
Giannis Antetokounmpo Protects Greek Freak Trademark for Gambling Use
The Sports Trader: How Soaring DraftKings Stock Means Sports Trading is About to Explode
Four Sports Investing Trends for 2020
To take advantage of the return of sports and to learn everything you need to know about smart investing in the sports betting market, check out our head trader John Todora’s new book – “Zero Correlation Investing – The Score Metrics Secret”. It’s currently on sale for a limited time, so go get yours now!
The ScoreMetrics Lab is the engine that runs the Sports Trading System operation, consisting of a team of researchers and writers who are constantly testing and retesting algorithms. They work hand in hand with our Head Trader and Creator of ScoreMetrics, John Todora to help find new breakthroughs and develop new systems.
