New Jersey Sports Betting Passes Nevada for the First Time

More money was bet at New Jersey sportsbooks than at Nevada books in a month.

Photo credit should read DOMINICK REUTER/AFP/Getty Images

For the first time in American sports-betting history, New Jersey has passed Nevada in sports betting in a single month.

Throughout the month of May, New Jersey sportsbooks took $318.9 million in bets, topping Nevada books, which accepted $317.4 million in wagers, according to the state gaming control.

The news comes just one year after the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which had restricted state-sponsored sports betting to primarily Nevada.

"I'm not surprised at all," retired state senator Raymond Lesniak told ESPN. "I've been saying all along that the Northeast and New Jersey is a hotbed of sports activity. We love our sports. We are well on our way, in overall gaming, to becoming the Las Vegas of the East Coast."

New Jersey has taken more than $3 billion in wagers in its first full year of operations.