New Jersey Sports Betting: Best NJ Sportsbooks and Promos - 2023

Yes, retail and online sports betting became legal in New Jersey shortly after the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned in May 2018. The first online sportsbooks launched in August of the same year. 

As mentioned, the first three online sportsbooks to launch for NJ sports betting were BetMGM, DraftKings, and BetRivers, followed by four more in 2018.

Today, there are 18 NJ sportsbooks available. Here, Usalegalbetting.com takes a look at what those sites are, their best attributes, and more.

1. DraftKings NJ - 🏀 Best for betting on New Jersey sports teams
2. BetMGM NJ - 🏟️ Best NJ Online Sportsbook for New Jersey legal sports betting
3. BetRivers NJ - 🤗 Best casual-friendly betting site
4. Caesars NJ - 💰 Best overall welcome bonus
5. FanDuel NJ - ⚙️ Best user interface
6. PointsBet NJ - ⚾ Most unique New Jersey online sports betting offerings
7. Golden Nugget NJ - 🖼️ The most recognizable NJ gaming brand
8. Bet365 NJ - 🎙️ Best live betting user interface
9. Betway NJ - 🧭 Easiest NJ Sportsbook to navigate
10. ESPN Bet - 🪙 Best NJ sports betting rewards program
11. PlayUp NJ - ❓ Most in-depth FAQ section for NJ sportsbooks
12. Hard Rock - 🚀 Most excellent NJ sports betting odds boosts offers
13. Borgata NJ - ⛹️ Best NJ sportsbook that offers live streaming
14. Tipico NJ - 🏦 Most flexible banking methods
15. SuperBook NJ - 👩🏻‍💻 Best NJ online betting customer service
16. Prophet Exchange NJ - 🤝Most Player-Friendly Online Sportsbook NJ
17. BetPARX NJ - 🎰 Best Sportsbook/Casino NJ Combo
18. Sporttrade NJ - 🍎 Best iOS Exclusive NJ Sports Betting Exchange

We touched on what makes each NJ online sportsbook desirable, and below, we’ll expand on that. We’ll cover the online sports betting bonuses and promotions , the launch date, links to more in-depth online sportsbook reviews, other states where the sportsbook is legal, and more. 

With so many high-quality NJ sportsbooks available, it can be hard to choose. One way they differentiate themselves is through their welcome bonus for new players. All NJ sportsbooks have a unique offer allowing you to earn free bets or site credits, helping you get started on the right foot.

Below are the top five welcome bonuses currently available for players who are new to NJ online sports betting.

DraftKings Sportsbook - Bet $5, Get $150 & Daily No Sweat SGP Tokens

DraftKings is currently offering new bettors not one but two welcome bonuses. The first allows players to claim $150 in bonus bets after placing an initial bet of at least $5. The second promotion gives new bettors a daily No Sweat SGP token. When bettors place a same-game parlay using one of the daily tokens, DraftKings will refund their stake up to $5 if the wager loses.

FanDuel Sportsbook - Bet $5, Get $150 If Your Bet Wins

FanDuel is one of the most popular NJ betting sites, and their welcome bonus is a big reason why. While their welcome bonus offers a smaller maximum than their competitors, it is a great offer for the average bettor. Unless you are planning to place an initial wager of over $150, FanDuel will give you more bonus bets while requiring the smallest real-money investment.

BetMGM Sportsbook - First Bet Offer up to $1,500

BetMGM Sportsbook is a great option for new Michigan players who are looking to swing big on their initial bet. The legendary sportsbook is offering to refund losing initial wagers in bonus bets of you to $1,500. This means new players can bet big on their initial wager, knowing that if it loses, they will receive the equivalent of their stake back in bonus bets.

BetRivers Sportsbook - Second Chance Bet up to $500

BetRivers has carved out a solid market share of the New Jersey online sports betting market. Part of their success can be attributed to their second chance bet welcome bonus. This offer allows new players to place their initial wager, knowing they will be refunded up to $500 in bonus bets if they lose. If the bet wins, the original stake and any winnings will be attributed to the player’s BetRivers account.

📰 October 11, 2023: New Jersey reveals online sportsbooks have a higher tax revenue than  all of the Atlantic City locations combined over the last three years.

📰 April 21, 2023: NJ hires a Responsible Gaming Coordinator.

📰 April 12, 2023: March Madness betting leads to a handle over $1 billion in March.

📰 March 1, 2023: NJ closes February with an $847.4 million handle.

📰 October 21, 2022: September 2022 handle is down 14% compared to September 2021. September 2021 had just over $1 billion.

📰 October 18, 2022: Fubo Sportsbook closes down online sports betting.

📰 September 20, 2022: Mojo launches in partnership with Tropicana Atlantic City. Mojo describes itself as the “sports stock market.”

📰 September 15, 2022: Sporttrade launches in NJ, dubbing itself the “first and only dynamic sports trading marketplace.”

📰 September 7, 2022: Fubo Sportsbook launches.

📰 August 29, 2022: Prophet Exchange launches.

📰 August 17, 2022: July 2022 handle comes in at $531.9 million, marking the third straight month of declines. This is the first time it has happened since Covid-19.

📰 July 22, 2022: Prophet Exchange becomes the exclusive sponsor of the Badlands Patreon and podcast. Badlands is a Jets-based outlet.

📰 June 10, 2022: 1-800-GAMBLER becomes nationwide after a deal with NCPG.

📰 June 1, 2022: PointsBet Sportsbook deals with outages for 48 hours on Memorial Day weekend, halting online sports betting. 

• August 2018: The first New Jersey online sports betting sites launch.
• June 2018: New NJ sports betting law passes, and first bets are taken in Monmouth Park at Borgata in Atlantic City.
• May 2018: The US Supreme Court strikes down PASPA, paving the way for New Jersey online sports betting.
• 2017: The Supreme Court takes the case, and Christie vs. NCAA takes place in December 2017.
• 2016: NJ appeals again and loses again in an “en banc” hearing. NJ takes it to the Supreme Court.
• 2015: NJ appeals and loses again.
• 2014: Based on the decision of the Third Circuit, NJ changed the writing of its law, and Governor Chris Christie signed that. The sports leagues sue again, and NJ loses in court again for retail and online sports betting.
• 2013: US District Court rules in favor of the sports leagues. New Jersey online sports betting was appealed in the Third Circuit Court and lost 2-1.
• 2012: NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB sue to stop NJ sports betting.
• 2011: New Jersey voters enact a referendum to allow NJ sports betting at state racetracks and Atlantic City casinos. 

New Jersey Betting Law

In more ways than one, no matter where you reside, you can thank New Jersey for the expansion of legal sports betting sites.

The battle for NJ sportsbooks the states dates back to 2011, when it first passed a law. However, from then through 2016, New Jersey was sued by the NCAA, NHL, MLB, NFL, and NBA. They lost several cases in court and multiple appeals before bringing it to the Supreme Court in 2017.

In May 2018, the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. With this, New Jersey implemented a new NJ sports betting law in June 2018. PASPA getting overturned allowed any state to bring sports betting there.

The first bets were taken in the state in June 2018, and the first online sportsbooks launched in August 2018.

Who regulates NJ sports betting sites?

Since New Jersey online sports betting became legal, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has overseen the operation of both retail and online sportsbooks and casinos.

The NJDGE started in 1977, and in their role, they challenge the qualification of platforms and entities to ensure they’re sound and reputable companies for NJ sports betting.

Per their site, the NJDGE “investigates, issues reports and, when necessary, challenges the qualifications of individual and corporate applicants for casino and casino-related licenses; reviews and audits casino-hotel operations; investigates and prosecutes all casino-related crimes; and tests all casino slot machines, casino floor systems, and Internet gaming platform systems prior to use.”

Yes, all of New Jersey's online sportsbooks are available on Android, iOS, or both.

The first mobile sportsbooks were launched in August 2018. 

How do I use an NJ sportsbook mobile app?

• Click our link to download the app
• Register for an account to get an exclusive welcome offer
• Choose a sportsbook payment method and make a deposit.
• Make your first bet. ( Visit our sports betting guides page for tips on how to make winning bets)

NJ sports betting sites have been live since August 2018. In that time, more and more sports are getting offered for you to wager on. Below, we’ll look over those and discuss them.

Football

NFL

The NFL is undoubtedly the most popular sport to bet on in the United States, and New Jersey is no exception—look at their handle numbers during the NFL season. As for professional teams, the Giants and Jets technically belong to New York, but MetLife Stadium is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey. All sportsbooks try to be among the best NFL betting sites

Super Bowl 

While no NFL teams are based out of New Jersey, you can bet on the Super Bowl. This is the most action-packed day for all online sportsbooks in New Jersey and everywhere else. Super Bowl betting sites will have an innumerable number of prop bets.

Basketball 

NBA

New Jersey used to be home to the Nets, but they’ve since moved to Brooklyn, New York. New Jersey residents are likely still fans of them, or perhaps the New York Knicks. Nonetheless, with so many legal options available in the state New Jersey will find no problem in finding an NBA betting site to place their bets.

Baseball

MLB

There are no MLB teams in New Jersey, but once again, there are two teams in nearby: New York the Mets and the Yankees. You can bet on both teams at all MLB betting sites.

Hockey

NHL

Here we go—we have a New Jersey-based NHL team, the Devils. The team hasn’t had any success in over a decade, winning the division during the 2009-2010 season and the Conference Championship in 2011-2012. Their last Stanley Cup win came in 2002-2003. At NHL betting sites, you can bet on them to win the Stanley Cup next season now!

Golf

PGA Tour

You can wager on in the PGA Tour in New Jersey. The most popular bets include the winner, top-five, top-10, and top-15 finishes.

MMA

For MMA betting sites, you’ll have plenty of nearly weekly UFC contests to bet on and other fighting promotions, such as Bellator and One.

Boxing

The most famous boxer to come out of New Jersey was Marvin Hagler. He’s from Newark, New Jersey. Boxing NJ betting sites are available.

NASCAR Auto Racing

Each year, there’s a NASCAR race hosted in New Jersey—the Jersey Shore 150. It’s a third-mile oval in Wall Township, New Jersey.

Soccer

New Jersey and New York share a women’s professional soccer team, the NJ/NY Gotham FC. The team was founded in 2006 and ranked 12 of 12 in 2022. They’re in the NWSL. You can bet on them on and all other MLS and NWSL at the legal soccer betting websites across the state. 

Horse Betting

Horse racing betting has been legal in New Jersey since 1939. You can wager at sites like NJ TVG and make bets under the FanDuel Group umbrella.

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS)

Daily fantasy sports are legal and available in New Jersey. You can play at sites like DraftKings, FanDuel, Underdog Fantasy, ThriveFantasy, and more.

Tennis

Whether it’s happening in the United States or abroad, you’ll have many tennis NJ betting sites to wager at. This is one of the best sports to bet on for live wagering. 

You can wager on college athletics in New Jersey. However, you cannot bet on teams that reside in the state and games that occur in the state.

College Basketball 

NCAA basketball

Like football, Rutgers is the most well-known NJ NCAA basketball program. They’ve had some recent success, making the NCAA tournament in 2022 and the Round of 32 in 2021. They haven’t advanced beyond that since 1979. While you can’t bet on NJ-based college teams within state limits you can certainly wager on NCAA basketball teams outside the state.

March Madness

The yearly NCAA Tournament is also known as March Madness. This is an excellent time of year for betting because it comes roughly a month after the Super Bowl. It offers a boon in betting action for online sportsbooks. With that, like the NFL, each sportsbook aims to be one of the best March Madness betting sites.

College Football

NCAA Football

There are a few notable NCAA football teams in New Jersey, the most well-known being the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The Scarlet Knights haven’t had a winning season since 2014, and their last bowl win was the Quick-Lane Bowl that same year. While you can’t bet on NJ-based college teams within state limits, feel free to bet on them at NCAAF betting sites.

• High School and Youth Sports
• Entertainment and Elections
• College teams in the state
• College games in the state 

Professional Sports Teams in NJ

New Jersey may have two football teams playing games in East Rutherford, the NY Jets and the NY Giants, but just two professional franchises dawn a New Jersey name.

New Jersey Devils

League: NHL
When Founded: 1974
Stadium: Prudential Center
Location: Newark, NJ
Partners/ Sponsors (Sportsbooks): Caesars, FanDuel, Betway, PlayUp 

NJ/NY Gotham FC

League: NWSL
When Founded: 2006
Stadium: Red Bull Arena
Location: Harrison, NJ
Partners/ Sponsors (Sportsbooks): N/A

Basketball

• Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Football

• Seton Hall Pirates
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights
• Princeton Tigers

PASPA was overturned in May 2018, and little time was wasted getting retail NJ sports betting sites launched. The first bet in the state happened in June 2018 before launching New Jersey online sports betting a couple of months later. There are plenty of places to wager on sports in person.

Below, we’ll take a peek at all of those and give you some information about them. 

Bally’s: FanDuel Sportsbook

Located on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel & Casino is a 24-hour spot offering a casino, sports, hotel, dining, and live entertainment. It’s had over $100 million in renovations done with over 83,000 square feet of gaming space that holds 1,300 slot machines. The hotel has over 1,200 rooms. 

Borgata: BetMGM Sportsbook & Bar

Opening in 2003, Borgata has 161,000 square feet dedicated to gaming with nearly 2,800 hotel rooms. It houses some of the best restaurants in Atlantic City, including American Grille, Angeline by Michael Symon, Mixx, and more. The license holder is MGM Resorts International, so you’ll find that you can use MGM rewards here as well. Since it opened, it’s been renovated three times. 

Caesars: Caesars Sportsbook at Wild Wild West

Equipped with its ancient Rome and Greek theme, Caesars Atlantic City opened its doors in 1979 and is actively renovating the property now. You’ll have 145,000 square feet of gaming space and over 1,100 hotel rooms here. 

Golden Nugget: The Sportsbook

Golden Nugget today was once known as Trump’s Castle when it opened in 1985. Since then, it was renamed to Trump Marina in 1997 before getting sold to Landry’s, Inc. in February 2011. There are nearly 75,000 square feet of gaming space. 

Hard Rock: Hard Rock Sportsbook

Found at 1000 Boardwalk, Hard Rock Atlantic City has 167,000 square feet of gaming space. It opened in 1990 but shut down for two years in 2016 before re-opening in 2018 with the Hard Rock name. It was formerly known as the Trump Taj Mahal. 

Harrah’s: Caesars Sportsbook

With over 177,00 square feet of gaming space, Harrah’s Atlantic City opened in 1980 and has nearly 2,600 hotel rooms. There’s a spa on-site, and the hotel has hosted boxing matches. You can also play poker here. 

Ocean Casino Resort: The Sportsbook

Known initially as Revel till 2018, the name Ocean came in 2018. Located just down the street from Hard Rock, Ocean has 1,400 hotel games and 130,000 square feet of gaming space. 

Resorts: DraftKings Sportsbook

The site where Resorts rests opened initially back in 1904 as the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel. The casino was introduced in 1978 and still has a Roaring Twenties theme. There are 100,000 square feet of gaming space and 942 hotel rooms. On-site, you can play at a DraftKings Sportsbook. 

Tropicana: Caesars Sportsbook

With signature attractions like IMAX, arcades, light and sound shows, and more, Tropicana has nearly 2,400 hotel rooms and 130,000 square feet of gaming space. There are also daily poker tournaments here. 

Freehold Raceway: Parx Sportsbook

A half-mile racetrack in Freehold Borough, Freehold Raceway is owned by Penn Entertainment and Greenwood Racing. Its official opening was in 1854. 

Meadowlands: FanDuel Sportsbook

At Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment, bettors will enjoy a more intimate setting of 10,000 square feet, three bars, a VIP area, and over 100 4K TVs. 

Monmouth Park: Caesars Sportsbook

Opening 152 years ago in 1870, Monmouth Park was a race track for thoroughbred horse racing that hosts the Haskell Invitational. The first race happened in 1968 as a handicap. It also hosted other popular events like Vans Warped Tour. It became the first location to offer NJ sports betting in June 2018. 

It’s challenging to compare NJ sports betting to other states. New Jersey has been at the forefront of sports betting throughout the United States since 2011. Sports betting had been available in Nevada, but New Jersey took on several professional leagues and the NCAA in court multiple times over five/six years. Eventually, thanks to New Jersey, PASPA was overturned.

Without the persistence of NJ sports betting, we likely may not have it today.

The bill that eventually brought up New Jersey online sports betting was A4111 in 2018. During the 2020-2021 session, there was another notable bill (A637) that “Revises permit and license processes for sports pool operators and online sports pool operators; revises definitions of certain sports events; allows for a transactional waiver for sports wagering lounge.”

Below, we’ll look at other states nearby that offer New Jersey online sports betting.

New York

New York sports betting had legal sports betting for retail-only for quite some time before launching online in January 2022. The launch of online sports betting in New York was set to be massive, and it has lived up to expectations, routinely breaking $1 billion in handle per month. The launch of sports betting in The Empire State has seemed to hinder the handle every month in New Jersey.  New York now has eight online sportsbooks available for bettors. 

Pennsylvania 

While not as early or persistent as New Jersey, PA was still a massive advocate for Pennsylvania sports betting, passing a bill in 2017 that was part of a larger gambling expansion package. The first retail casino to accept a wager was Hollywood Casino and Penn National on November 15, 2018. PA now has a total of 12 online sportsbooks.

Delaware

Believe it or not, the first state to take a sports bet post-PASPA wasn’t New Jersey—it was Delaware. In 2009, Delaware passed a law permitting the lottery to offer expanded forms of parlay products, but federal law stood in the way. To this day, however, online legal sports betting isn’t available—the reason why is associated with the cost to get it up and running.

Connecticut

Connecticut brought online legal sports betting to the state in October 2021. Governor Dannel Malloy signed legislation into law in July 2017. The state awaited approval for the then-New Jersey Supreme Court case. The bill that was signed into law to bring Connecticut sports betting was HB 6948. The state features just two online sportsbooks: FanDuel and DraftKings.

Not only are online casinos legal in NJ, but they became legal five years before online New Jersey legal sports betting launched in 2013. Governor Chris Christie signed bill A2578/S1565 to allow online gaming sites to partner with retail Atlantic City-based casinos.

That year, eight online casinos launched. These included Borgata, Caesars, Fanduel, Golden Nugget, PartyCasino, Tropicana, Virgin, and 888.

Today, there are 27 online casinos in NJ. 

Click Here for our list on Online casinos licensed to operate in New Jersey