The last three months have been a whirlwind for gamblers in the Garden State.
Back on May 14, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling that struck down the federal sports betting ban known as PASPA. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 previously limited single-game sports betting to Nevada only, with the 49 other states barred from authorizing or licensing sportsbooks altogether.
New Jersey became the first state to challenge PASPA in 2011, passing a series of laws through the legislature and having voters approve ballot measures calling for sports betting regulation. Those efforts were repeatedly challenged by the big sports leagues, as the NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL teamed up to take New Jersey to court.
And while the lower court rulings all sided with the leagues, a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court saw six of the nine justices come out forcefully against PASPA. When the Court found PASPA to be unconstitutional, the controversial sports betting ban was repealed altogether.
This allowed individual states to pursue their own sports betting policies, an invitation which Delaware pounced on to become the first state outside of Nevada to accept legal sports wagers just three weeks later.
As for New Jersey, lawmakers waited to put the finishing touches on tax rates and other red tape, before officially opening for sports betting business on June 14. The ceremonial first wager was placed at Monmouth Racetrack in Oceanport by none other than Governor Phil Murphy, who has been a firm supporter of his state’s long battle for legal betting.
Murphy issued a statement celebrating the beginning of a new era for New Jersey’s gambling industry, one which has a long history of innovation and advancement:
Opening day has come and gone, but the first month of legal betting in New Jersey has proven to be a rousing success.
Even accounting for the abbreviated June launch, New Jersey’s sports betting industry hit the ground running.
The first three sportsbooks to open for business – Monmouth Park (June 14), Borgata (June 15), and Ocean Resort Casino (June 28) – combined to collect over $3.45 million in revenue in their opening month. Here’s how the revenue marks break down by venue:
As the first mover in the industry, Monmouth Park capitalized on the regional buzz to take $8,176,212 in total wagers. That’s especially impressive given the venue’s limitations, which include geographical isolation, closing times unlike 24-hour casinos, and an emphasis on horse racing.
Helping to overcome those limitations is William Hill U.S., the American arm of U.K. bookmaking titan William Hill. As the largest sportsbook operator in Las Vegas, William Hill U.S. partnered with Monmouth Hill several years ago in anticipation of a positive Court ruling. Over that time, the company built a full-fledged sportsbook facility with all the modern bells and whistles bettors have come to expect.
Joe Asher – who serves as chief executive officer for William Hill U.S. – spoke to Legal Sports Report about the successful launch at Monmouth Park:
Asher’s allusion to football season is quite astute, as the NFL and college football combine to form by far the largest sports betting market sector during their respective seasons.
Indeed, even with more than a month to go until the NFL season kicks off, bettors in New Jersey placed $280,611 on NFL futures wagering. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the total handle, but with the World Cup soccer tournament bringing in $2.2 million by comparison, NFL football is clearly an industry driver.
One company that made its name by capitalizing on America’s love of NFL football is FanDuel, one of two globally leading daily fantasy sports (DFS) sites along with DraftKings.
FanDuel was founded in 2009, and for most of the company’s history, DFS contests were the site’s bread and butter. But with legal sports betting on the horizon for the last year or so, the company has been exploring several ways to pivot.
And when Irish sports betting leader Paddy Power Betfair moved to purchase FanDuel earlier this year, the marriage ensured that DFS and sports betting would go hand in hand.
Following the Paddy Power Betfair acquisition, FanDuel became the FanDuel Group, absorbing the Betfair U.S. brand that already operated an online casino in New Jersey.
The FanDuel Group then went on to secure a deal with the Meadowlands Racetrack, a pivotal gambling hub along the Eastern Seaboard that serves as the closest betting facility to New York City. Featuring branding and logos from FanDuel, the Meadowlands sportsbook opened for business on July 14 – taking in more than $1 million in wagers during its opening weekend alone.
Former state senator Ray Lesniak – who fought passionately for the right to wager on sports during his time in the statehouse – placed the first bet at Meadowlands, putting $50 on France to win the World Cup. That wager turned out to be a winner too, perhaps offering a preview of the FanDuel Group’s chances in the increasingly crowded New Jersey market.
Speaking with local news outlet NJTV, Meadowlands chairman Jeff Gural confirmed that the seven-figure weekend exceeded even the venue’s own expectations:
Matt King – the chief executive officer for the FanDuel Group -issued a statement praising the Meadowlands as the perfect partner for the company’s first foray into sportsbook operation:
Unfortunately, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the FanDuel Group’s opening weekend at the Meadowlands.
On July 24, several bettors were left in the lurch after the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies played a 16-inning marathon that stretched out over 5 hours of game time. When the Phillies finally notched a walk-off winner, it was well past 1 a.m. local time, so the FanDuel sportsbook was already shuttered.
Folks who held winning Phillies tickets were forced to wait until the following morning to collect their cash, a situation which sent several aggrieved bettors to social media to complain.
FanDuel spokesman Kevin Hennessy issued the following statement to address the matter, but the bad publicity during opening week certainly wasn’t welcome:
The snafu was quickly sorted out the next day, and all bettors received their winnings, but the FanDuel Group learned a valuable lesson that the Las Vegas bet shops already have down pat. Basically, by telling bettors to stick around until the game ended, the staff risked a random occurrence like 16 innings of baseball. And when that happened, the book wasn’t able to unlock its drawers and dispense payouts within normal business hours, as mandated by state law.
Speaking with ESPN Chalk, Monmouth Park head honcho Dennis Drazinrevealed how the venue’s William Hill sportsbook handled the situation:
One more point of contention emerged for bettors during the FanDuel Group’s launch at Meadowlands, as baseball wagers were tagged with a heavy “vig” of 30 percent. The vig is the house’s cut for accepting the bet, and it typically hovers around 10 percent according to industry standards.
Astute bettors quickly noticed the higher vig and cried foul, prompting the following mea culpa from the FanDuel Group:
Even so, the successful opening weekend continued at the Meadowlands, with the sportsbook taking in an additional $2.5 million worth of wagers over the next week. That haul was especially impressive given the timing, as the MLB All-Star break left no games on the schedule for three days.
In an interview with ESPN Chalk, Gural said he was satisfied with the Meadowlands’ first week of operation, but he also expects a significant improvement to come:
The FanDuel Group is also eyeing an entrance into online sports betting, as New Jersey’s 2013 legalization of online gambling helped pave the way for the sports betting bill to include internet wagers. With a database containing hundreds of thousands of DFS players, the company has the inside track toward becoming the first online sportsbook in the state.
On that front, the FanDuel Group has already forged a partnership with Golden Nugget Atlantic City. As one of the local casino operators that already holds a license to offer iGaming – with Betfair Casino one of its four main clients – Golden Nugget Atlantic City is able to sublicense with companies like the FanDuel Group.
And the company has already stated its intention to open a dual online casino and sportsbook by bringing iGaming software leaders GAN and IGT onboard.
King talked to the Associated Press about GAN’s involvement with the upcoming Golden Nugget Atlantic City online sportsbook launch:
His equal at GAN, chief executive officer Dermot Smurfit, issued a statement to confirm the company’s agreement with the FanDuel Group:
The FanDuel Group is shooting to launch online wagering by early September, right in time for Week 1 of the NFL regular season.
The Golden Nugget isn’t resting on its laurels when it comes to a brick and mortar sportsbook.
The company recently announced an agreement to have SB Tech – a leading iGaming service provider based in Bulgaria –provide backend operations for sportsbooks inside the Golden Nugget venues in Atlantic City and Biloxi, Mississippi.
Richard Carter, the chief executive officer for SB Tech, issued the following statement after the deal was struck:
Golden Nugget’s senior vice president and general manager of online gaming for Thomas Winter pointed out that SB Tech pursued the deal more aggressively than any other bidder:
To help supervise the preparations at Golden Nugget Atlantic City, the venue has already hired Joseph Nicosia – a respected figure within the sports betting industry – to serve as the venue’s first manager. The sportsbook isn’t up and running quite yet, but like other Atlantic City casinos operators including Bally’s and Harrah’s, Golden Nugget plans to open in time for NFL football.
One sport that won’t be available at Golden Nugget Atlantic City is NBA basketball, as the casino’s owner Tilman Fertitta also owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets. In a deal with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), Golden Nugget Atlantic City, elected to remove NBA betting from its board rather than risk any conflicts of interest.
To this point, the Borgata is the only Atlantic City casino to open a permanent onsite sportsbook, but the East Coast gambling hub has eight other contenders:
Oceans Resort became the second Atlantic City casino to accept wagers, partnering with William Hill U.S. to open a temporary sportsbook shortly after the Borgata launch.
Asher of William Hill U.S. went on CNBC to discuss the company’s second New Jersey venue:
Golden Nugget is gearing up to launch alongside SB Tech, and according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), Bally’s and Harrah’s have already petitioned the regulator to amend their gaming licenses to allow for sports betting.
Harrah’s is planning to open a permanent sportsbook by February of next year, but in the meantime, the casino is hard at work converting an existing slot machine parlor into a temporary bet shop.
As for Bally’s, the venue converted 4,542 square feet of former dance floor to accommodate its new sportsbook, with another 8,190 square feet added to complete the renovation.
And along with Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands, New Jersey is home to another active racetrack (Freehold Raceway), along with two other inactive tracks (Atlantic City Race Course and Garden State Park). Each of these tracks is eligible to apply for a sports betting operator’s license, giving New Jersey a total of 14 potential venues.
The early success of sports betting after the new law in New Jersey should show other states how much tax money they’re missing out on. This can only help legalized sports betting come to more states quickly.
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