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The January sports betting report from the state of New Jersey is in, and it was another impressive month for the state. New Jersey actually set a new sports betting handle record, despite the fact that New York now has online sports betting as well.

The total sports betting handle was $1.349 billion, which moved it slightly past the old total of $1.303 billion in October 2021. This January total represented growth of more than 9 percent from December, and there was a 40% jump year-over-year.

New Jersey had been the clear leader in the U.S. sports betting industry, but the analysts were expecting a drop-off once New York went live. Sportsbooks in New Jersey were benefiting from New York residents crossing the border, but that didn’t stop with its neighbor going live.

There was some disappointment in the recent report as the hold for the sportsbooks was just 4.5%. This meant that the total sports betting revenue was right around $60 million, and the state saw $8 million in tax revenue.

A report from GeoComply could signal that another big month is coming once the February report comes out. According to GeoComply, the average number of weekend transactions in New Jersey actually went up after sportsbooks were live in New York.

Basketball Brought in the Action

The NFL Playoffs were taking place during the month of January, but it was actually basketball that brought in the most wagers. There was over $553 million in wagers on basketball during the month of January, and that trend should continue in February and March.

Football posted the second most handle during the month of January as that total was $340.3 million. Bettors once again had another big month when betting on football as the hold rate was just 3.5%.

Parlay betting continues to be popular for bettors in New Jersey, and that form of betting is profitable for sportsbooks. This type of betting had a total handle of $268 million, and it produced nearly $43 million in revenue.

Betting on the Super Bowl will be reflected in the February total, but this is also a much shorter month, and a new handle record is not expected.

New York the Clear Leader

Even though New Jersey continued to see growth in spite of the New York launch, it is no longer the biggest sports betting market. New York will not post a full month of sports betting numbers until after February is over, but the total handle could be over $2 billion.

New York had a total handle of more than $1.9 billion from January 8 through February 6, but that was because of the NFL Playoffs. The analysts are expecting that the Super Bowl will bring in a large number of wagers, but that was the only football game in the month of February.

New Jersey and New York could be joined in the $1 billion handle club by Nevada and Illinois if those states continue to trend in the right direction as well.