It would be fair to say that the legalization of sports betting, especially of the mobile variety, has been something of a game-changer in terms of the way it’s affected the industry as a whole.
However, there was always one possible dark cloud to consider, and that’s the potential knock-on effects of the passing of the legislation to allow the activity in the surrounding states that had something of a headstart on the Big Apple.
With New York sports betting netting an astonishing sum, and that has meant that the legal sports betting handle for the first quarter of 2022 rose to an astonishing $26.34 billion, which is double the sum made for the same period in 2021, further proving the insatiable appetite of sports bettors in the country.
Despite the dominance of the New York market, New Jersey has managed to hold its own thus far, and the numbers for the first quarter have been encouraging.
In April, the handle in New Jersey stood at $926 million, which represents nearly a 24% increase from the same period last year. It appears that parlays are where NJ is doing best, with action on this form of betting proving most profitable for the state.
Basketball has been a big driver in recent weeks, with March Madness, as usual, and the start of the NBA playoffs being events that sports betting providers can quite literally bank on for action.
The big winners in terms of providers come from those within the Meadowlands group, which includes FanDuel, PointsBet, and SuperBook, who took in over 66% of the overall revenue for the state.
As expected, much of the betting is coming via mobile action, with as much as 85% coming via this tranche of the market. Despite this success, there are some dissenting voices within New Jersey, most prominently in the form of state officials who aren’t too keen on the means used by sports betting brands to attract customers.
This advertising, marketing, and promoting is obnoxious,” said RalphCaputo, the Democratic assemblyman for Essex county.
“It’s obscene. You can’t possibly flip on the television without being hammered with a [sports betting] advert.”
“I’m sufficiently old enough to not be entrapped, but there are plenty of younger people who find themselves being influenced by these advertisements,”
“It’s very upsetting to see.”
The amount of money used by the top providers to promote their brands and entice new customers is quite eye-watering but goes some way to showing the lifetime value they feel each signed-up player can bring.
The concerns of Caputo are by no means rare, but it should be noted that the sports betting activity in the relevant states is leading to huge sums of money being brought in via high levels of tax placed on those regulated sportsbooks that are licensed.
Gambling laws in New Jersey are among the least restrictive ones in the country, and in 2013, the state also allowed online gambling as well. You can play roulette for money.
Indeed in New York, that level of tax runs at an incredible 51% at present, and as such, the aggressive measures used by providers to attract users isn’t entirely surprising.