New Jersey became the first state in the post-PASPA era to surpass $50 billion in sports betting handle Thursday after the Division of Gaming Enforcement reported $1.04 billion worth of accepted wagers for April.
The Garden State is the original trail blazer for legal commercial sports wagering beyond Nevada in the United States. Then-Gov. Chris Christie championed a challenge of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act through repealing a state law that banned sports betting in 2014.
The lawsuit filed in response by the four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA reached the U.S. Supreme Court during the tenure of his successor, Phil Murphy. The U.S. Supreme Court determined PASPA conflicted with the Tenth Amendment and was declared unconstitutional in May 2018, and New Jersey sportsbooks — along with those in Delaware and Nevada — began taking wagers the following month.
New Jersey sportsbooks reached the handle milestone in 71 months of wagering, with handle via sports betting apps accounting for $46.69 billion — 91.8% of the total amount bet. The $50.87 billion in total handle is $7.57 billion more than second-place and neighboring New York.