New Jersey iGaming Revenue Hits Record $21.96M in January

Home » Poker News » New Jersey iGaming Revenue Hits Record $21.96M in January

Monday, February 19th, 2018 | Written by Charles Washington

New Jersey’s online gambling market has returned positive growth over the past two years, and 2018 is already shaping up to provide more of the same after revenues hit a record $21.96 million in January. That figure also represents a massive 16.7% improvement versus the $18.8 million taken during the same month a year earlier.

Online Casinos Up 21%

From the roughly $22 million collected by New Jersey’s iGambling industry in January, $20 million was generated by online casino games, marking a 6.3% increase over the previous month, and a whopping 21.4% improvement year-on-year. January was also the first month recorded in which online casino revenues surpassed $20 million, with $19 million sums only ever having been reached on two previous occasions.

Online Poker Down 16%

Online poker, on the other hand, continued its ongoing slide last month with revenues plummeting to just $1.95 million, higher by 0.7% from December’s tally, but down by 16.6% compared to the $2.3 million collected in same month a year ago. Poker’s diminishing returns are by now a familiar tale for those following New Jersey’s monthly online gambling figures, and we would now have to look back more than seven months in order to find the last time the state’s monthly poker figures exceeded $2 million.

Borgata Leads Market

Leading the Garden State’s overall online gambling market in January was the Borgata (Borgata, PartyPoker, Pala, MGM) with $4.15 million in revenue, or around half a million dollars more compared to last January. The figure also takes into account Borgata’s online poker revenues shrinking by 7% during the month.

Next, Caesars (888, Caesars, Harrah’s, WSOP) generated $3.35 million, down by 17% year-on-year, with its online poker offering experiencing its second-worst month to date after sinking by almost 30%. In the meantime, the Golden Nugget (Golden Nugget, Betfair, SugarHouse) enjoyed a glorious month in which its revenue soared by 50% to $7.3 million, in the process smashing the previous monthly record set in July 2017 of $6.25 million.

“To put the Golden Nugget’s success into perspective, no other New Jersey online casino licensee has even eclipsed the $5 million threshold,” commented PlayNJ.com analyst Steve Ruddock. “The Golden Nugget’s pace-setting is the result of solid management, a strong platform and its willingness to innovate, such as the launch of live-dealer games. It has created a recipe that has made the Golden Nugget the clear market leader.”

Finally, Resorts AC (Resorts, Mohegan Sun, PokerStars NJ) posted its second best month to date worth $3.8 million, with its year-on-year online casino revenue higher by 23%, but its poker segment falling by 14%; while bringing up the rear was Tropicana (Tropicana, Virgin) with its $3.3 million in revenue up slightly from the same month last year.

Casino Market Feels Chill

For the past two years New Jersey’s casino market has reported an increase in its year-on-year revenues, with business up by 2.2% to $2.66 billion in 2017. From that tally, online gambling contributed $245.6 million (+24.9%), with online casinos up by 30.1% to $221.35 million year-on-year, and poker down 8.5% to $24.25 million.

New Jersey’s online gambling market may have reached record levels in January of 2018, but the segments still only accounts for just 10% of the state’s overall gambling revenues. Last month, the state’s seven land-based casinos, including iGaming revenues, subsequently generated a total of $184.3 million, representing a sharp 10% drop from the $204.6 million collected in January of 2017.

Nevertheless, the dramatic reversal in Atlantic City’s fortunes last month can directly be attributed to a severe storm which struck the region and deposited more than a foot of snow, in the process shutting businesses and leaving many gamblers unable to travel to their favorite casinos. Commenting upon the situation, James Plousis, chairman of the NJ Casino Control Commission, explained:

“What a difference a blizzard makes. When people are stuck in their homes by more than a foot of snow and temperatures are dipping into single digits, they don’t come to Atlantic City. So, it comes as no surprise that casino revenues were down last month.”

Overall Revenues

From the $184.3 million generated by Atlantic City’s casinos in January, the Golden Nugget was the only venue reporting growth, albeit by just +1.7%. By contrast, Caesars noted a huge monthly drop of 23% to $21.7 million, followed by Harrah’s lower by 16.3% at $23.5 million, Borgata down 10.2% to $57.7 million, Bally’s down by 8.8% to $12.7 million, Resorts lower by 6% to $11.6 million, and the Tropicana’s revenue dropping by 4.4% to $26.1 million year-on-year.