New Jersey Sports Betting by the Numbers: Handle, Revenue, and What It Means for Bettors

Read more: NFL Betting: The Ultimate Guide for the 2025/2026 Football Season

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First Things First—Breaking Down the Jargon

To understand the operation, you have to understand the terminology—and while these terms may look intimidating, they’re actually pretty simple to follow once they’re decoded.

Handle:

• Definition: The total amount of money wagered.
• Think of it like: 
  
  • Everyone’s bets added together = handle.
  • It does not mean profit.
  • It does not mean wins or losses.
  • It just means volume.
• Example: In October 2025, NJ bettors placed $1.24 billion total in sports betting → The monthly handle in October 2025 was $1.24 billion.
• Why it matters: Large handle = lots of betting activity = more money being spent / Small handle = less betting activity = less money being spent.

Revenue:

• Definition: The money sportsbooks kept after payouts.
• Think of it like: 
  
  • If the handle is the total amount of money that comes in, the revenue is how much money the sportsbooks received  from the handle.
  • Profit before expenses
• Example: The handle in October 2025 was $1.24 billion and sportsbooks kept $116.1 million of the handle → The revenue in October 2025 was $116.1 million.
• Why it matters: High revenue = bettors lost more than they won / Low revenue = bettors won more than they lost.

Hold Percentage:

• Definition: The percentage sportsbooks kept after payouts.
• Think of it like: 
  
  • Revenue ÷ Handle = Hold %
  • Scoreboard: Bettors Vs. Sportsbooks
• Example: The revenue in October 2025 was $116.1 million and the handle was $1.24 billion → The hold percentage for October 2025 was 9.4% (116.1M ÷ 1.24B ≈ 9.4%)
• Why it matters: Lower hold = decent month for bettors / Higher hold = the books crushed bettors.

Now that you speak fluent sportsbook-handler, we can break down the “hows”—how much the books are actually keeping, how they’re keeping it, and what those numbers say about how New Jersey is betting.

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Who & How Much—Which Sportsbooks Are Winning the Most From New Jersey?

While rankings vary from month to month, the top operators based on handle, revenue, and hold percentage tend to stay relatively the same—which means these sportsbooks usually take the most bets and keep the most money:

FanDuel: 

• 2024 Handle: $1.9 billion
• 2024 Revenue: $174.7 million
• 2024 Average Hold: 9.2%

DraftKings

• 2024 Handle: $6.85 billion
• 2024 Revenue: $411 million
• 2024 Average Hold: 6%

BetMGM

• 2024 Handle: $822 million
• 2024 Revenue: $70.7 million
• 2024 Average Hold: 8.6%

Caesars

• 2024 Handle: $364.8 million
• 2024 Revenue: $25.9 million
• 2024 Average Hold: 7.1%

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💡Pro Tip: Popularity doesn’t always equal profit for bettors, so it’s important to keep in mind that just because everyone’s betting somewhere doesn’t mean everyone’s winning there, too.

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Read more: Everything You Need to Know About NBA Prop Betting

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How They’re Doing It—Why a High Hold % is Brutal for Bettors

A sportsbook’s hold percentage is basically the cut they keep after all bets are settled. Think of it like the house’s “profit margin.” So when the hold shoots up, say 11-12%, that means sportsbooks are keeping more money than usual from everything wagered. A normal sports betting hold is around 6-8%, so when a hold hits double-digits, at that point, bettors are basically donating to sportsbooks.

A high hold doesn’t just mean sportsbooks are making money—it also means bettors are getting squeezed. If you see a double-digit hold month, that signals:

• Bettors aren’t beating the market.
• Parlays are doing damage.
• Favorites are getting overpriced (and still losing).
• The sportsbooks are celebrating.

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It’s also your cue to:

• Bet smaller.
• Avoid long-shot parlays.
• Look for smart, single-bet values instead.

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💡Pro Tip: When handle goes up AND hold goes up? That’s a sign bettors are getting reckless—not smarter.

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How IS New Jersey Betting (And What All This Means for You, The Bettor)?

New Jersey bettors LOVE their parlays—and in return, sportsbooks LOVE New Jersey. Why? The more New Jersey loads up on parlays, the more money the sportsbooks keep, and the higher the state’s overall hold shoots up. Why should you care? Because hold tells you exactly how much the books are keeping from New Jersey bettors, and just as importantly, how New Jersey is betting in the first place.

In other words: if the state’s hold is high, it means bettors are taking riskier bets, giving sportsbooks more leverage, and getting less value in return. If you want to keep more of your money where it belongs (your wallet), bet smarter, not flashier.

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