Best Online Sportsbook New Jersey: FanDuel Leads, Tax Just Jumped

Best online sportsbook New Jersey isn't a question about which app is legal — that part has been settled, broadly and confidently, since 2018. New Jersey is the state that took on the federal sports-betting ban and won: its own case, Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, got the US Supreme Court to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act on May 14, 2018, and legal sportsbooks opened at Monmouth Park weeks later. What actually changed heading into 2026 is the tax bill sitting on top of that legal market.

Is Online Sports Betting Legal in New Jersey? Yes — New Jersey Invented This

New Jersey didn't just legalize sports betting, it forced the rest of the country to be allowed to. PASPA, the 1992 federal law that banned state-sponsored sports wagering almost everywhere outside Nevada, stood until New Jersey's lawsuit reached the Supreme Court and the justices ruled 6–3 that it violated the Constitution's anticommandeering principle. The state had sportsbooks live within a month, and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has regulated the market since — currently licensing 11 operators across 42 authorized online domains, each tethered to an Atlantic City casino or one of the state's racetracks. Registration is fully remote: a New Jersey bettor never has to visit a casino floor the way a Nevada bettor still does.

FanDuel vs. DraftKings: the Lead Actually Changed Hands

July 2026's New Jersey numbers put FanDuel on top by a real margin — $94.5 million in revenue against DraftKings' $73.7 million — and FanDuel got there growing faster, 19.7% year over year against DraftKings' 5.7%. That's notable because the national trend for most of 2025 into 2026 has run the other way, with DraftKings closing on FanDuel's overall US market share. New Jersey, for now, is FanDuel's state to lose. The smaller story is bet365: its total New Jersey revenue is still roughly a sixth of DraftKings', but it added $5.2 million in year-over-year gains in July 2026, more than DraftKings' $4.0 million — a far smaller book, growing faster off a far smaller base.

The Tax Hike: 13% to 19.75%, and It Wasn't Subtle

Governor Phil Murphy opened budget talks wanting a 25% tax on online sports betting, online casino, and daily fantasy sports revenue, nearly double the 13% sportsbooks had paid for years. The Sports Betting Alliance — the trade group representing FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Fanatics, and bet365 — pushed back hard enough that lawmakers landed on a compromise: 19.75% across the board, written into Assembly Bill 5803 and signed June 30, 2025 as part of New Jersey's record $58.1 billion fiscal year 2026 budget. The Assembly passed it 45–33, the Senate 25–14. Online casino play, taxed at 15% before, moved to the same 19.75%. Daily fantasy sports, which hadn't carried a dedicated state tax at all, now does too. The state projects roughly $250 million a year in additional revenue from the combined changes — money that, one way or another, comes out of operator margins rather than bettor winnings directly, though it\'s the kind of cost that tends to show up in slimmer promos over time.

Worth Betting Legally in New Jersey Now?

Unambiguously yes, for anyone 21 or older physically in the state. New Jersey built the legal foundation the rest of the country\'s sportsbooks now stand on, runs a genuinely competitive market with no single-operator monopoly and no in-person signup hurdle, and just posted a record July handle despite the new tax. None of that makes betting a way to make money — it\'s 21+ entertainment with a built-in house edge, taxed a little more heavily now than it was a year ago. The 1-800-GAMBLER helpline is free and confidential if it ever stops feeling like entertainment.

The short list

1. 1. FanDuel — Biggest single revenue number in the state right now

   FanDuel posted $94.5 million in New Jersey online sportsbook revenue in July 2026 — a 25.4% share of the combined market — growing 19.7% year over year, the fastest pace among the state's largest operators that month.

2. 2. DraftKings — Still #2 by revenue, growth has cooled

   DraftKings brought in $73.7 million in New Jersey online sportsbook revenue in July 2026, the second-largest total in the state, but its 5.7% year-over-year growth was the slowest among major operators that didn't outright decline.

3. 3. BetMGM — Licensed statewide, the honest third option

   BetMGM holds a full New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement license and runs behind the top two on revenue share, the same pattern it shows in most other licensed states — a real third choice, not a dark horse.

4. 4. bet365 — The smallest base, the fastest-growing dollar gains

   Bet365's overall New Jersey revenue runs roughly a sixth the size of DraftKings', but it added more year-over-year revenue in July 2026 ($5.2 million) than DraftKings did ($4.0 million) — a smaller book growing off a smaller number, but growing faster.

5. 5. Caesars Sportsbook — The legacy Atlantic City name, still fully licensed

   Caesars runs its sportsbook through its own Atlantic City casino license, one of the longest-standing operators in the New Jersey market and a founding member of the Sports Betting Alliance trade group that has lobbied against the state's tax increases.

Questions this list actually answers