New Jersey gambling operators clocked saw their revenue for April 2021 skyrocket to a massive 326.4 percent increase over April 2020. It’s an achievement that is pretty stunning, even when viewed in light of April 2020’s dark days of pandemic-fueled fear and loathing.
Once again, regulated sports betting led the charge for NJ operators with a handle of $748 million. That’s down 13 percent from March, but up 1,270.1 percent over April 2020. April 2020 had the distinction of being the first full month of pandemic-related shutdowns in the US and bookmakers took a mere $54 million in wagers during that dark period.
Retail wagering pulled in $66 million in April 2021, but that accounted for just nine percent of the total take. NJ players, like most US players, favor mobile betting by a huge margin.
Though April is a month when US sports betting tends to drop off a bit, NJ operators were able to stay thanks to a local interest in gambling on the NBA. In a statement reported on by Legal Sports Report, PlayNJ.com analyst Dustin Gouker commented on the situation saying, “New Jersey is unique in that it has never been quite as reliant on football as other legal jurisdictions. NBA has always been particularly popular. Add that the region’s three most popular teams are all enjoying relatively strong seasons, and New Jersey sportsbooks have so far been able to smooth the natural seasonal decline that begins in April.”
NJ sportsbooks may benefit further from this phenomenon if the New York Knicks move past the first round of the NBA playoffs. But after that, there’s likely to be a decent-sized slump until football revs up in the late summer.