NFL Favorites Dominate Playoffs
Sportsbooks went into the NFL playoffs disappointed by the results from the regular season. Favored teams won at the highest rate in over 20 years, leading to more wins for bettors. Many of those bettors were placing parlays, leading to bigger payouts.
Once the playoffs started, things went very differently. Favored teams dominated, leading to a big bump in revenue for sportsbooks. This has helped operators compensate for losses suffered during the regular season, kicking off 2025 with a bang.
Is the New Jersey Market Shrinking?
While the massive spike in gross revenue is an excellent sign for sportsbooks, the drop in handle is curious. It is hard to believe that a market like New Jersey would be shrinking, but there is no denying January’s numbers.
Other states may begin to report their numbers for the month, and we may get a better picture. The NFL playoffs will likely increase gross revenue, but the handles will vary. The historic season may have led more bettors to cash out their winnings and skip the playoffs, but we won’t know until more numbers are in.
FanDuel Continues to Lead the Way
FanDuel Sportsbooks once again led all New Jersey online operators in January. While the operator enjoyed its best month of the NFL season, it was still short of its numbers from January 2024.
DraftKings finished behind rival FanDuel but saw the most significant revenue gains of any operator compared to December. The operator generated over $36 million in revenue in January. BetMGM finished a distant third with $7.7 million in revenue.
The most notable result came from Fanatics, which finished just behind BetMGM. The operator continues to expand in the US and is beginning to catch and surpass BetMGM in several markets. While it remains far behind FanDuel and DraftKings, more bettors are switching to Fanatics.
