New Jersey bettors wagered more than ever in June, yet strong FIFA World Cup and NBA Finals results left operators with a much thinner slice of the money.
Record Handle Meets a Player-Friendly Hold
New Jersey sportsbooks accepted $917.2 million in bets during June 2026, up 16% from $790.4 million a year earlier and the state’s highest June handle on record.
That rush of action did not translate into a bumper month for operators. Sports wagering revenue fell 37.7% to $57.3 million, down from $91.9 million in June 2025. The statewide hold dropped from 11.62% to 6.24%, meaning sportsbooks kept just over $6 from every $100 wagered.
Players still lost money as a group, but considerably less per dollar than they did last June. It is a useful reminder that handle measures how much was bet, not how much the house kept.
World Cup Results Treat Bettors Kindly
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement linked the revenue decline mainly to customer winnings from the FIFA World Cup and NBA Finals. A busy sporting calendar drove more people toward the betting apps, while the results produced heavier-than-usual payouts.
For everyday bettors, June was the rare combination of packed schedules and a softer operator margin. That does not mean the same selections will keep paying in July. Hold can swing sharply from month to month, particularly when popular favorites land together or a few major results wipe out large batches of parlays.
Mobile Betting Owns the Market
Online sportsbooks handled $891.9 million, equal to 97.2% of all New Jersey wagers during the month. Retail books took just $25.3 million.
The contrast was even starker on revenue. Online operators remained profitable, while retail sportsbooks posted a combined loss of nearly $673,000. Meadowlands Racetrack lost close to $1 million, although Monmouth Park and Borgata finished in positive territory.
Those figures leave little doubt about where New Jersey players prefer to bet. The sportsbook counter has atmosphere, but the phone in your pocket wins on convenience.
FanDuel Leads a Bruised Field
FanDuel remained New Jersey’s top sportsbook with $25 million in June revenue, despite a 30.2% year-on-year decline. DraftKings followed with $13.7 million, down 43.7%.
Bet365 moved into third place after revenue rose 38.9% to $6.7 million, making it one of the few large operators to escape the wider downturn. BetMGM generated $4.5 million, while Hard Rock Bet recorded a modest increase from last year. Fanatics and Caesars suffered some of the steepest drops among the larger brands.
For players, operator revenue tables do not reveal which app offered the best prices or promotions. They do show that even the largest books can have a rough month when heavily backed outcomes fall the wrong way.
Higher Tax Rate Cannot Rescue the State
New Jersey collected about $12.5 million in sports betting taxes during June, down from $13.1 million a year earlier. That decline came despite the online sports wagering tax rate rising from 13% to 19.75% in July 2025.
The reason is straightforward: New Jersey taxes sportsbook revenue rather than total wagers. A bigger percentage of a much smaller operator win still produced less money for the state.
Through the first half of 2026, sportsbooks generated $513 million in revenue, down 7.1% from $552 million during the same period last year. Players wagered roughly $5.7 billion, while the state collected $107.3 million in sports betting taxes.
June belonged more to bettors than bookmakers, at least by the usual sportsbook standard. The apps still kept $57 million, but players made them work unusually hard for it.
