New Jersey's Gambling Market Sees Notable Uptick in June
The gambling landscape in New Jersey continues to exhibit its dynamic nature, achieving a remarkable 7.4% growth in June, as reported. This booming industry encompasses a mix of land-based casinos, igaming, and sports betting, collectively amassing earnings of $491.0 million for the month. This figure not only surpasses the previous June’s earnings of $457.2 million but also marks a slight dip of 3.7% compared to May’s robust $510.0 million.
Land-Based Casinos and Igaming Performance
Land-based casinos in New Jersey reported a modest yet significant increase in revenue of 1.0% year-on-year, reaching $244.1 million. A detailed breakdown reveals that slot machines, a major revenue driver, contributed $184.0 million—an increase of 0.6%. Table games also displayed encouraging growth with a 2.5% rise, culminating in $60.1 million in revenue.
Meanwhile, the igaming sector experienced a substantial surge, recording a 25.2% increase to $186.8 million compared to the previous year. Although still trailing land-based casino revenue by $57.3 million, the digital domain showed impressive gains. Within this segment, "other authorized games" contributed a prominent $184.4 million, up 25.6% year-on-year. However, peer-to-peer poker revenue saw a slight decline, falling by 2.9% to $2.5 million.
Individual igaming operators also reported varied results. The Golden Nugget led the pack with $51.5 million in revenue, marking a 23.3% increase. Resorts Digital followed closely with an impressive 36.4% rise to $48.6 million. The Borgata, another prominent player, generated $42.9 million, reflecting an 8.8% year-on-year increase.
Challenges in the Sports Betting Segment
While the land-based and igaming sectors showed notable performance, the sports betting landscape portrayed a different story, experiencing a 9.5% decline year-on-year to $60.1 million. This segment also saw a significant drop of 23.7% compared to May’s $78.8 million. Despite the revenue dip, the total amount wagered by New Jersey residents flourished, reaching $748.4 million—representing a 26.6% increase from last year’s $591.1 million. This is indicative of a growing betting interest, albeit with lesser profitability.
Online sports betting dominated the sector, with residents placing $719.0 million in bets through digital platforms. Retail sportsbooks, on the other hand, took in $29.5 million in bets. Among the key players, FanDuel led with $29.1 million in sports betting revenue. DraftKings followed with $14.4 million, while BetMGM reported $3.7 million. Other contributors included Bet365 and Fanatics Sportsbook, generating $3.4 million and $1.8 million, respectively.
Tax Contributions and Year-to-Date Performance
The New Jersey gambling industry’s tax contributions for June totaled $47.8 million. This included $16.2 million from land-based casino gross revenue tax and $28.0 million from igaming internet gross revenue tax. Internet sports wagering accounted for $3.6 million in taxes, while retail sports wagering from casinos contributed a modest $7,782. Racetracks were not left out, paying $71,191 in sports wagering taxes.
Looking at the broader picture, the total market revenue for the first six months of the year reached a substantial $3.06 billion, marking a 12.2% rise from last year’s $2.73 billion. Land-based casinos contributed significantly to this figure, with a combined $1.36 billion in revenue. Slot machines alone generated $998.3 million for the period, and table games added another $357.8 million.
Igaming revenue also showed a strong performance, reaching $1.1 billion for the first six months—a 21.4% increase from the previous year. The segment of "other authorized games" contributed $1.12 billion, up 21.8%. However, peer-to-peer poker saw a decline, contributing $14.1 million, down 4.2%.
Unlike the month-to-month dip, sports betting revenue for the first half of the year demonstrated growth, totaling $573.1 million—a 30.0% year-on-year increase. The year-to-date handle for sports betting surpassed an impressive $6.76 billion, with online sports betting contributing $6.53 billion and retail locations adding $231.0 million.
In conclusion, while New Jersey’s gambling market grapples with challenges in sports betting, its overall resilience is reflected in the growing igaming and land-based casino sectors. This juxtaposition of robust growth in some areas and declines in others paints a complex, yet optimistic, picture of the state's gambling industry’s future trajectory.