New Jersey Sports Betting and iGaming Hit $596M in March — Here’s Why NJ Remains the National Gold Standard

New Jersey’s gaming industry generated $596.4 million in total revenue in March 2026, a 9.2% increase year-over-year. That headline number understates what the month actually represents. It was the thirteenth consecutive month New Jersey exceeded $500 million in total gaming revenue. Q1 2026 statewide total gaming revenue eclipsed $1.7 billion faster than any other year this decade. And iGaming, for the seventh month running, outperformed every brick-and-mortar casino in the state combined.

iGaming Carries the Market

Internet gaming revenue came in at $272.1 million in March, up 11.6% year-over-year. That is the second-highest monthly result in New Jersey’s iGaming history — the all-time record of $273.2 million was set in December 2025, missed by just $1.1 million. Year-to-date iGaming win stands at $782.8 million, up 16.3% versus the same point in 2025. At that pace, the full-year figure would approach approximately $3.4 billion — a yearly record.

James Plousis, director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, put it plainly: “Internet gaming win reached its second-highest monthly result on record… As expected, online win also eclipsed in-person casino win for the seventh consecutive month.” Jane Bokunewicz of Stockton University added analytical context: “The convenience of gaming via online channels is likely to continue resulting in growth for internet gaming operations and flat brick-and-mortar performance in the shoulder and off seasons.”

Brick-and-mortar casino win came in at $236.7 million, up 2.5% year-over-year — the strongest March total for physical casinos since 2013. The land-based floor is not collapsing; it is simply growing at a fraction of the rate of the online market. The revenue mix shift is structural, not cyclical.

Sports Betting: More Revenue on Less Handle

New Jersey sports betting generated $87.6 million in March, a 22.8% year-over-year increase. The handle was $1.01 billion — down 8.6% from the prior year. Revenue growing while handle falls signals a higher hold percentage across operators, a dynamic that can reflect both favorable event outcomes for the books and shifts in the betting mix toward parlays and higher-margin products. NJ launched legal sports betting on June 11, 2018 — one of the first states to act after the PASPA repeal — and currently operates 15 legal sports betting apps.

The operator breakdown for March sports betting revenue tells a familiar story of concentrated market power. FanDuel led with $32.4 million, up 9.8% from February, bringing its year-to-date total to $107.3 million — the first operator to surpass $100 million in the state in 2026. DraftKings followed with $22.3 million (YTD $70.2 million). Combined, FanDuel and DraftKings accounted for approximately 62% of the state’s sports betting revenue in March. BetMGM ($8.2 million), bet365 ($7 million), and Fanatics ($6 million) filled out the mid-tier. Caesars ($3.8 million), Hard Rock Bet ($1.3 million), and BetRivers ($1.2 million) trailed.

iGaming Operator Dynamics

The iGaming market shows a more competitive distribution, though the duopoly remains present. FanDuel led with $62.7 million, up 20% year-over-year. DraftKings posted $48.3 million, down 2.6% — a rare decline for the platform. FanDuel and DraftKings combined for approximately $111 million, representing roughly 41% of the $272.1 million iGaming market. That lower combined share compared to sports betting reflects the strength of casino-brand competitors in the iGaming vertical: BetMGM at $34.9 million (up 10.4%), Caesars Palace at $18.6 million (up 11.1%), and Hard Rock Bet at $18.4 million, a 55.8% year-over-year surge. Fanatics showed the sharpest growth trajectory at 138.4% year-over-year, reaching $12.7 million. BetRivers jumped 41.1% to $11.7 million.

Tax Revenue and the Policy Picture

New Jersey generated $84.7 million in taxes from operators’ gaming revenue in March alone. Online sportsbooks are taxed at 14.25%; retail sportsbooks at 9.75%. At the Q1 pace, the state is on track to collect well over $1 billion in gaming taxes for the year — a figure that underwrites the political sustainability of the regulatory framework.

Bill Pascrell III of the PPAG noted that “New Jersey continues to demonstrate that a diversified, well-regulated gaming ecosystem can deliver consistent and sustainable growth.” That framing is worth taking seriously. New Jersey’s model — competitive licensing, multiple operators, online-first market structure — is the template that advocates in other states point to when making the case for legalization. The March 2026 numbers reinforce that argument. New Jersey sportsbooks have now built a track record that no other state can match for scale, diversity, and sustained revenue growth.