The start of football season delivered some unprecedented sports betting numbers in New Jersey and Michigan in September.
Let’s start in the Garden State where New Jersey residents made history with the first $1 billion handle in a single month. The reported handle in New Jersey in September came in at $1.011 billion. That was up an astounding 35 percent from the $748.6 million that was bet in New Jersey last September. Prior to September New Jersey’s record monthly handle was $996.3 million in December, 2020.
- Where to Bet in Michigan? Draft Kings | FanDuel | BetRivers
- Where to Bet in NJ? SugarHouse | FanDuel | Draft KingsÂ
How much was Michigan, NJ betting handle?
The massive handle led to a huge spike in revenue for sports betting operators, up nearly 83 percent from September 2020 at $82.4 million. That also led to a $10.2 million tax haul for the state.
Not surprisingly New Jersey also led the country in online sports betting transactions with 70.5 million, which accounted for 21 percent of all legal bets in the nation. Another non-surprise was football being the most popular bet in New Jersey in September. During NFL kickoff month $400.8 million alone was bet on football.
Shifting focus to Michigan, sports bettors set a new record in the Wolverine state with a $386.8 million handle in September. This is the first football season that online sports betting has been available in Michigan as it only launched in January.
By comparison, August’s handle in Michigan was $208.6 million. September’s handle was up 85 percent compared to August, and it topped the previous record handle of $383.7 million set in March earlier this year.
The revenue reported by sportsbook operators in Michigan was $27.1 million. State coffers added $426,872 in taxes from sports betting in September.
Leading the way in online handle in Michigan was DraftKings Sportsbook with $106.9 million. They were followed by FanDuel Sportsbook with $82.1 million and Bet MGM Sportsbook with $81.8 million.