New Jersey’s sportsbooks have taken a crushing hit, following the suspension or cancellation of all major sports season. One after the other, the NBA, NHL and MLB suspended their seasons due to the spread of the coronavirus, followed by the NCAA Tournament, which was cancelled altogether. On Friday, it was announced that the 2020 Masters Golf tournament was also postponed.
Before the virus reached US shores, New Jersey’s sports betting industry was booming. Its numbers were at their highest since the state introduced legal sports betting 21 months ago. This could be seen in January 2020, when a whopping $540 million was bet in the Garden State in the time leading up to the Super Bowl LIV.
USA Today quotes Daniel Wallach, an attorney specializing in the sports betting industry saying: “The ripple effect to sports betting will be profound because this extends so far beyond the sports wagering bubble. This is just one subset of a broader impact across every segments of American life, and that is going to have a continued impact.”
Wallach notes that we are living in unprecedented times, and predicts that the gambling industry will take a huge hit, along with many other industries around the world.
“There will be an immediate impact and a trickle-down impact over time,” he added.