Betfair to withdraw from New Jersey Market

The company has notified customers in New Jersey that it will officially cease operations in the state on October 1.

US.- Betfair has announced that it is pulling out of the New Jersey gambling market due to disappointing results and because the state is getting its first sports betting exchange.

Betfair entered the New Jersey market back in 2015, but generated a sports betting handle of just $12.4 million in 2018.

Now Sporttrade, a sports betting startup, is to introduce a proprietor betting exchange for the state via an agreement with Twin River Worldwide Holdings.

Kip Levin, COO of FanDuel, which oversees UK-based Betfair’s operations in the US, said the exchange “never hit the critical mass needed for it to be viable.”

He added that works in a UK context isn’t always the same in the US, arguing that the company had failed in the states because of “a customer base used to exotic wagers and reluctance by major US racing associations to embrace the different business model”.

Many sportsbooks suffered economically as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, but analysts predict sports betting will hit record levels.