New Jersey iGambling Hits All-Time High of $25.9M in July

Home » Poker News » New Jersey iGambling Hits All-Time High of $25.9M in July

Thursday, August 16th, 2018 | Written by Stephen Smith

New Jersey online gambling generated $25.9 million in July, marking a new all-time high for the market, and meaning that revenue records have now been set in four out of the first seven months of 2018.

Including land-based revenues, Atlantic City’s nine casinos won $302 million last month, or 12.8% more than the $268 million taken in 2017 when there were two fewer gaming establishments. The state of New Jersey subsequently collected $23.4 million by way of gaming taxes in July.

Online Gambling Up 14.2%

In July, the Garden State saw its online gambling revenue jump by 14.2% to $25.9 million versus June, and by 25.8% versus the same month last year. Driving the industry forward is its online casino vertical which generated $24 million in July, meaning it now accounts for around 93% of all the state’s iGaming revenues. Moreover, the segment continues to grow relentlessly, with July’s figure up by 14.9% month-over-month, and by an impressive 29.5% year-over-year.

Online poker, on the other hand, continues to see its fortunes wane, and posted an 8.0% year-on-year decline at $1.85 million. While that figure was also 5.2% higher compared to the previous month, it was still disappointing as there had been expectations that the final fortnight of the 2018 World Series of Poker, as well as the shared online poker pool launched in May, might have given its numbers a more significant boost.

Market Analysis

Leading the market in terms of revenue last month was the Golden Nugget (Golden Nugget, Betfair, SugarHouse) with a whopping $9,328,814 from its online casino only operation. Not only was that revenue result a new record for the venue, but it also marked a massive 50% improvement year-on-year.

Next highest but a long way back was Borgata (Borgata, PartyPoker, Pala, MGM) on $4,931,403, up by 20% versus July of 2017, although its poker vertical noted a 27% contraction to just $467,604. It was followed by Resorts (Resorts, Mohegan Sun, PokerStars NJ) on $3,940,407, whose PokerStars poker product saw its business slip to $653,107.

Resorts and Borgata had led the Garden State’s online poker market until the aforementioned player sharing agreement was launched between New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware in May. The Caesars/888/WSOP partnership is the only partnership to have operations in the other states, and so has become the sole operation to benefit from the arrangement. Unsurprisingly, it was also the only casino to see its online poker revenues grow in July, with $727,842 of its total $3,767,078 in winnings accounted for by the vertical.

Bringing up the rear was Tropicana (Tropicana, Virgin) with $3,350,360 collected from its online casino only business, that figure being down on both a monthly and yearly basis, followed by the Ocean Resort Casino and the Hard Rock Hotel Atlantic City which generated revenues of $249,805 and $329,650 respectively after opening their doors on June 28th.

Atlantic City Casinos Up 13% Overall

Atlantic City’s nine casinos collected $272.32 million last month, rising to $302 million once online gambling revenues are included. While its almost 13% year-on-year growth may seem impressive, gaming analysts have warned that a higher growth rate is needed in order to accommodate the expanded market which now includes the Hard Rock and Ocean Resort casinos.

In other words, while Hard Rock collected $32,716,115 in July, and the Ocean Resort$17,097,044, they likely poached business from their other seven state competitors, all of whom reported year-on-year declines in July with the exception of the Golden Nugget. Generating the most revenue was Borgata on $76.6 million, down by 9.9% versus last July, followed by Tropicana on $37 million (-9.8%), Hard Rock on $32.4 million, Harrah’s on $31.4 million (-14.1%), Golden Nugget on $29.4m (+8.8%), Caesars on $29.3 million (-10.3%), Bally’s AC on $20.5 million (-9.9%), Resorts on $17.8 million (-12.7%), and finally Ocean Resort on $17 million.

“The new casinos have added competition and it has been a good thing for visitors,” commented Casino Control Commission Chair James Plousis. “Market adjustments were expected and will continue as each casino works to attract new customers and build their market share.”

Sports Betting

After winnings its landmark Supreme Court case to have PASPA overturned, New Jersey launched its nascent sports betting market in June. During its first full month of operation in July, the segment then collected $40.6 million in wagers, resulting in revenues of $3.83 million for the three casinos (Borgata, Ocean Resort, Bally’s) and two racetracks (Monmouth Park, Meadowlands) that currently operate sportsbooks in New Jersey.

Many wagers placed have been made on sporting events yet to take place, though, meaning that the current figures should be viewed within that particular context. Nevertheless, William Hill US CEO Joe Asher has said that the market has gotten off to a good start, and that he is “thrilled with the early numbers at both Monmouth Park and Ocean.”