New Jersey is still the capitol of sports betting according to new data, with nearly $1 billion in bets

• New Jersey is the top state in sports betting handle for the month of January.
• The state saw a sports handle of $958.7 million in a single month.
• The runnerup was Nevada at $646.5 million

New Jersey was the top state in sports betting handle for January.

According to new data from the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) obtained by Sports Handle on Wednesday, New Jersey led the country with a $958.7 million sports betting handle, over $300 million more than second-place Nevada with $646.5 million.

That does not necessarily equate to exact revenue from sports betting, however. The handle is defined as the total amount of money wagered. Revenue is the amount of money a sportsbook keeps after paying out winners.

Overall, the US saw a total of more than $4.36 billion wagered in January. Operators in those 20 jurisdictions totaled nearly $361 million, and state governments collected more than $54.3 million in taxes from that revenue.

New Jersey's January total was a decrease from its record-setting December, in which it recorded a total $996 million handle. Since legal sports betting went into effect in New Jersey in June of 2018, the state has seen more than $12.8 billion in total handle, more than $874.6 in total revenue, and more than $107 million in taxes collected.

Other notable month-to-month trends show that Michigan cracked the top 10 for the first time with a record-setting 1,451.89% increase in handle from December, and Washington D.C. seeing the biggest drop off of any state with a -5.69% change in the final month of Donald Trump's presidency.