New Jersey iGaming Soars 21% to $149M in 2015

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Thursday, January 14th, 2016 | Written by Stephen Smith

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) has released its latest monthly iGambling figures, and the news was good with December’s tally of $14 million representing a new record for the state. Together with the rest of the year’s results, New Jersey generated total revenues of $148.8 million in 2015, which was 21% higher than the $122 million that was collected the previous year.

Poker Revenues Fall 18% to $23.8m in 2015

In December, New Jersey’s iPoker market generated $1.98 million in revenues, lower by 3.6% compared to the $2.06 million collected in the same month in 2014. Out of the state’s two iPoker operators, Borgata (Party Poker/Pala Interactive) accounted for $1.11 million of revenues, with Caesar’s Interactive NJ (888/WSOP) accounted for the remaining $874,339. Overall, iPoker’s share of the iGaming market fell to just 14.1% in December 2015, compared to its 19.2% share in December 2014.

For the whole of 2015, however, iPoker’s decline was even more dramatic with revenues plummeting by 18% to $23.8 million, and Borgata generating $13.01 million compared to $10.77 million for Caesar’s.

iCasinos Up 33% to $125m in 2015

Moving in the opposite direction to poker are casino games, which continue to drive New Jersey‘s overall iGaming industry forward. In December, online casino games produced revenues of $12 million, an impressive 39% increase in year-on-year business. Leading the way in December was the Golden Nugget with $2.87 million in revenues, followed by the Borgata ($2.85m), Tropicana ($2.82m), Caesar’s ($2.22m), and finally Resorts ($1.28m). The state’s iCasino vertical subsequently accounted for 85.9% of iGaming revenues in December, up from its 80.8% share in December 2014.

Throughout the whole of 2015, iCasinos generated $125 million in revenues, a figure roughly 33% higher than the whole of 2014.

iGaming Up 30.8% to $148.8m in 2015

When iCasinos and iPoker revenues are combined, New Jersey’s iGaming industry produced revenues of $148.8 million in 2015, an impressive 30.8% more than the whole of 2014. Leading the way, as usual, was Borgata/Party Poker/Pala whose revenues rose to $45.7 million from the $44.3 million it collected in 2014; with Caesars in third place with $32.7 million, slightly down on the $32.9 million taken the previous year. In both these operators’ cases, poker negatively impacted their results with Borgata’s iPoker vertical down by 17% y-o-y, and Caesars down by 21.6%.

In second spot was the Tropicana up 45% to $32.8 million in 2015, also making it the state’s biggest iCasino operator; while in 4th place was the Golden Nugget, whose revenues of $31 million was almost three times the $10.8 million it collected in 2014, thanks mostly to its new Betfair New Jersey site. Bringing up the rear was Resorts Casino Hotel with $6.8 million in revenues, having only launched its online products recently. The year ahead, however, is likely to prove a turning point for Resorts after its partner PokerStars was granted an iGaming license to operate in the Garden State. PokerStars is now expected to make it much anticipated return sometime in the first quarter of 2015.

Brick & Mortar Casinos Down 6.5% inn 2015

New Jersey’s land-based casinos generated $191.7 million in December, higher by 0.6% compared to the $190.5 million collected in December 2014. The $2.56 billion Atlantic City’s eight casinos collected for the whole of 2015, however, was lower by 6.5% than the $2.7 billion taken in 2014. That was the year in which four casino venues closed for business, and when only the eight remaining operator’s revenues are assessed, five of them reported year-over-year gains, while across the board business was up by 3.1% year-over-year.

“What we’ve seen across the country is pretty strong results in December, [bolstered by] the economy,” explained Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon. “Everyone is concerned about the lack of retail shopping, but on the casino side, the fourth quarter is shaping up to be a pretty healthy quarter”.

Nevertheless, 2006 still remains a peak year for Atlantic City with its then twelve casinos generating $5.2 billion in revenues. Since then, casino gambling has expanded exponentially across the US, and commenting on the situation Mayor Don Guardian said:

“We had a monopoly and 12 casinos. Now there are 30-something casinos in the northeast, and we’re about to have gambling in the northern part of the state. There are more gambling places than there are gamblers willing to gamble.”