BetMGM to lay off 83 workers at Jersey City headquarters as sports betting market slows

Posted by author March 3, 2025 Gambling

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BetMGM, one of the nation’s biggest online gambling companies, will lay off 83 employees in Jersey City.
The company has been hit particularly hard by challenges in the sports betting market, an analyst said.

BetMGM, one of the nation’s largest online gambling companies, will lay off 83 employees at its headquarters in Jersey City, as it copes with slower growth in the sports betting industry.

The layoffs are set to go into effect on May 27, according to a public notice the company filed in late February with the New Jersey Department of Labor.

Representatives for BetMGM did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday. But the company has been hit particularly hard by the changing sports betting market, said Corey Sharp, a writer for the gambling trade publication PlayNJ.com.

Nationwide, sports betting revenue was down 29% in December, compared with the same month a year earlier, according to the American Gaming Association, a trade group.

“The flurry of jurisdictions legalizing and launching sports wagering has slowed – slowing the rapid growth of the industry overall as much of the population has now gained access to legal sports wagering channel,” said said Jane Bokunewicz, an associate professor with Stockton University’s Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism, which studies New Jersey’s casino market

As of 2025, 39 states have legalized sports betting, according to the American Gaming Association.

“The initial flurry of activity as patrons transitioned from existing (often illegal) sportsbooks or discovered sports betting for the first time (accelerated by the circumstances around the COVID-19 pandemic) has likely eased in recent months, but the continued growth of the market is indicative of a sector that is still evolving,” Bokunewicz added.

BetMGM falls behind FanDuel, DraftKings

Sharp said that BetMGM “has also not been able to match FanDuel and DraftKings for market share” in sports betting in the way it has for online casinos.

That’s because DraftKings and FanDuel “spent years building up a following in the daily fantasy sports space,” which “transferred naturally to sports betting when it became legal, but less so to online casino,” Sharp continued.

“Conversely, BetMGM is relying mostly on MGM Resorts’ retail customer database, which transfers more naturally to online casino than to sports betting,” he said in an email.

That’s not to say BetMGM has faced only dire straits in recent years.

In January, the online gambling giant saw a nearly 35% jump in its monthly winnings, to $28 million, according to public filings. That put it third in the state for winnings behind FanDuel’s $49.7 million in January and DraftKings’ $44.1 million.

“It is common for gaming organizations to review their operations periodically and try to streamline processes to gain efficiency. This can sometimes result in layoffs of employees,” said Bokunewicz.

“One incident of layoffs at one operation should not be considered an indication of the health of the overall industry, because there are many reasons why a company may choose to take this action,” she said.

BetMGM generated $1.96 billion in revenue in 2023 and employed more than 2,500 “team members,” including contractors, according to its website.

Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.

Email: munozd@northjersey.com; Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook