Sports Betting

On the morning of June 14, sports betting became officially legal in the state of New Jersey. It is only fitting, then, that the first person to place a bet that day was Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey. Proponents of legalized sports betting spent the last seven years fighting for New Jersey residents to gain the simple right to legally bet on games in their state. And now Murphy was about to do it. He wagered a mere $20 on Germany to win the World Cup and another 20 on, of course, the Jersey Devils hockey team to take next year’s Stanley Cup.

On the week in October that some were predicting the bubble on United States fantasy sports participation would burst because of a scandal suggesting collusion between the two largest sites in the industry, the exact opposite happened. DraftKings and FanDuel each had the largest weekends in each company’s history, with over $45 million in entry fees and almost $5 million in combined profits, respectively.