New Jersey‘s online and retail sportsbooks scored a record win and near-record monthly handle in March as the industry crossed the $2bn mark in bets since legalization according to analysts PlayNJ.com in a spike that was fueled by the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The firm’s lead analyst, Dustin Gouker, noted: “The first week of March Madness generated more action than the Super Bowl, and even the First Four games attracted enough betting to rival a busy weekend of NFL regular season football. That is unquestionably a massive success and shows clearly the importance of college basketball to the Northeast’s legal sports betting markets.”

New Jersey’s online and retail sportsbooks took $372.5m in March bets, just shy of the record $385.3m in January, according to official reporting. Online and retail sportsbooks in the state have now accepted $2.3bn in bets since legalization in June 2018. March revenue came in at $31.7m, up 150 per cent from February’s $12.7m total. The win and a high-water gross revenue mark for the state’s online casinos combined in March to generate more than $70m in monthly revenue.

Gouker added: “$2bn in bets in nine months shows just how much pent-up demand for legal sports betting existed in New Jersey. As quickly as the industry has ramped up, though, the next milestone should come more quickly. $3bn is certainly within reach by the industry’s first anniversary in June.”

New Jersey’s online sportsbook brands accounted for $298,3m, or 80.8 percent, of total March bets. That’s even with the 80.8 percent of bets that flowed through online sportsbooks in February. FanDuel Sportsbook/Pointsbet was the dominant online sportsbook, beating rival DraftKings Sportsbook, with $13.3m in gross revenue, up from $6.59m in February. DraftKings fueled Resorts’ $7.3m in March, up from $3.7m in February.

FanDuel Sportsbook at The Meadowlands led in the retail market with $4.3m in March gross revenue, up from $1.5m in February. Monmouth Park followed FanDuel with $986,251.