New Jersey Online Gambling Hits Record $25.9M in July

New Jersey’s online gambling industry has been setting new monthly all-time records since the beginning of the year, starting in January ($21.9m) and then February ($22m), before hitting a peak of $25.6 million in March. With no signs of abating, the market has now continued its incredible bull run into July, with a massive $25.9 million in revenues collected from the state’s seven online gaming operators.

All told, New Jersey generated $25,897,517 in online gambling revenue last month, marking a 14.2% improvement compared to June, and a 25.8% increase versus the same month in 2017. Consequently, overall online gambling revenue currently totals roughly $875 million since the market’s launch in 2013, and is now on pace to surpass $1 billion by the end of the year.

iCasinos Up 29.5% to $24m

According to the latest results released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), the state’s online casino market saw its revenue reach $24 million in July, higher by 14.9% month-on-month, and by 29.5% year-on-year. As a result, the vertical has produced revenues in excess of $20 million for the seventh straight month, while the market has increased fourfold since the start of 2014.

iPoker Down 8% to $1.85m

While online poker noted a 5.2% improvement to $1.85 million versus June, its revenue was still lower by 8.0% compared to July of 2017. The result was rather disappointing as July covers at least part of the World Series of Poker which drew to a close on the 17th, while this summer’s unusually hot weather led some analysts to predict an uptick in online activity as players sought to escape the heat by spending more time online from the comfort of their own air-conditioned homes.

Market Analysis

Caesars and its online partners (888, Harrah’s, WSOP) is the only New Jersey operation to benefit from the tri-state player sharing agreement launched in May. The situation was reflected in the fact it was the sole operation to report online poker growth during the month, with the $727,842 generated pushing its control of the overall market to 40%. Nevertheless, the Garden State’s online poker market is currently around half the size that it was when the market first launched. In addition, Caesars collected a further $3,039,236 from its online casino offering.

Borgata (Borgata, PartyPoker, Pala, MGM), on the other hand, had a slow month and saw its poker revenue fall by 27% year-on-year, although its overall business was higher by 20% at $4,931,403. Borgata and Resorts had led New Jersey’s online poker market until the Caesars/888/WSOP partnership became the sole beneficiaries of the tri-state sharing agreement, and unsurprisingly Resorts saw its poker revenues slip to $653,107 in July, although its overall revenue was higher at $3,940,407.

Meanwhile, the Golden Nugget (Golden Nugget, Betfair, SugarHouse) continues to lead the market in terms of revenue, and in July reported its best ever month after seeing its online casino only business soar by 50% to $9,328,814 year-over-year. By contrast, Tropicana’s (Tropicana, Virgin) online casino only operation generated $3,350,360 in July, making it the sole venue to post both monthly and yearly declines.

Finally, both the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City and the Ocean Resort Casino had their grand openings on June 28th, with the establishments collecting $329,650 and $249,805 in online gambling revenues for July, respectively.

Online Casinos 93% of Market

When New Jersey’s online poker market first launched it accounted for around 25% of all online gambling revenues produced. Over the years that figure has slipped to just 7% of the market, and as a result operators have increasingly devoted their attentions towards profiting from online casino and slots games, while patiently awaiting for a bigger overall iPoker expansion stateside. Consequently, marketing efforts and attempts to
grow the state’s online poker segment have predominantly been put on the back burner in New Jersey.