- New Jersey sportsbooks won $61.4 million in August, down 25% from $81.9 million a year earlier.
- Football wagering handle fell 63% to $26.8 million as the college season started later than in 2025.
- Parlay hold dropped to 14.6% from 19%, a decline that accounted for most of the month’s shortfall.
- Year-to-date sports wagering revenue reached $671.4 million, down 5.3% from $708.7 million a year ago.
TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey sports betting revenue came in at $61.4 million for August, 25% below the $81.9 million the state’s books won a year earlier, after football handle dropped 63% and parlay hold slid more than four percentage points, according to a Division of Gaming Enforcement report released Sept. 16.
A Parlay Hold That Did More Damage Than The Calendar
The Division of Gaming Enforcement’s August revenue report, released Sept. 16, put sports wagering gross revenue at $61,445,421 for the month, down 25.0% from $81,901,788 in August 2025. Online sportsbooks made up $59.7 million of that total, down 24.6%, and the state’s retail sportsbook lounges added $1.7 million, down 35.5%.
The division’s release said the decline “primarily reflects a later start to the fall sports calendar for certain sports compared to August 2025, including college football, as well as a lower overall win percentage.”
The report’s completed-events tables show both factors were real, but not equal. Total handle on settled events fell 9.0% to $732.4 million, while the sportsbooks’ win percentage fell from 8.9% to 7.3% – a steeper decline in relative terms than the drop in betting volume.
Of the $17.5 million year-over-year falloff in completed-events win, parlay wagers alone accounted for $12.2 million, or about 70% of the total, as parlay hold fell to 14.6% from 19.0% – the sharpest decline of any wager category the division tracks. New Jersey’s books kept about 23% less of every parlay dollar wagered in August than they kept a year earlier, even though parlay handle fell just 4.8%.
Football’s Missing Month
Football wagering handle, the category most directly tied to the calendar explanation, fell 63.4% to $26.8 million from $73.4 million, and football win dropped 67.9% to $1.6 million.
That shortfall accounted for about 20% of the state’s total completed-events win decline – smaller than parlay’s share but consistent with a college season that had produced more settled games by this point in 2025. Basketball handle grew 6.2% to $60.6 million and baseball win rose 7.7% to $6.7 million, both partly offsetting the football and parlay losses.
FanDuel And DraftKings Both Fell Faster Than The Market
FanDuel, operating under Meadowlands’ license, led online sportsbooks at $22.6 million in August, down 28.7% from a year earlier. DraftKings, operating through Resorts, followed at $16.9 million, down 39.4% – a steeper drop than the 24.6% decline across all online books, so the two largest New Jersey sports betting sites each lost ground relative to the market.
BetMGM won $5.3 million, down 31.6%, also worse than the market. Bet365 won $4.2 million, down 18.9%, the smallest decline among the state’s five largest online books, and BetFanatics won $4.8 million against a $4.1 million loss in August 2025.
A Softer Year Gets Softer
Year-to-date sports wagering revenue stands at $671.4 million, down 5.3% from $708.7 million over the same eight months of 2025. Sports wagering generated $12.8 million in state taxes for August and $140.1 million year-to-date. The wider report put total gaming revenue at $615.7 million, down 4.1%, while internet gaming win grew 4.4% to $259.3 million.
The month follows New Jersey sports betting revenue hitting $97 million in July, when a bigger handle and a higher hold lifted the state’s take together. August reversed both halves of that equation at once. The division released the July report Aug. 14 and the August report Sept. 16; on that cycle, the next legal sports betting figures, for September, land in mid-October.
