Sportsbooks expect record activity as sports return

Sportsbooks in New Jersey are expecting a growth in sportsbetting after the return of Major League Baseball.

US.- Analysts at Morgan Stanley expect that New Jersey sportsbooks could see record sportsbetting activity in the next weeks as NBA and NHL return following the return of Major League Baseball last week.

The analyst Tom Allen said sports betting sites in New Jersey had been aggressive in offering attractive odds to bettors for the Major League’s return last week.

Sports betting could hit record levels due to an abbreviated season that will magnify each game after fourth months of lockdown, Allen predicted.

According to DraftKings, bets on Thursday’s game between the New York Yankees and Washington National were its highest yet for a baseball game.

Allen also found that MLB pricing was “customer friendly” on the point, or run, spread with an “overround” of 4 per cent against 4.3 per cent for the National Football League season opener in 2019.

By comparison, Las Vegas slot machines offered win percentages of about 8 per cent in 2019.

Allen said: “A lower number can be read as more aggressive as it represents lower gross win margins (hold) for operators, though it may lead to better volumes as it reflects a more attractive price to customers”

MLB last week became the first major sports league in the US to resume operations. The NBA and the NHL will be back this week. New Jersey has the largest online sports betting market in the US.