It only took four months for New Jersey gambling sites to break what seemed like an unbreakable record.
Back in March, NJ online gambling revenues reached $25.6 million. It was the highest mark reached in the state’s five-year history of legalized online gaming by more than $3 million. Other months came close, but March continued to sit atop the record books.
Until now.
According to figures released by the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement, NJ online casinos combined for a whopping $25.9 million in July to set a new record for online gambling revenue.
Heating up the summer
Not much went wrong in July for NJ online casinos — or for the state’s casino industry as a whole.
The month’s online gambling revenue reflected a jaw-dropping increase of 25.8 percent from July 2017. Combined with the month’s casino win of $272.3 million (a 10.1 percent year-over-year spike), total gaming revenue in the Garden State reached $302.1 million.
That figure, per PlayNJ.com’s Steve Ruddock, marks the first time the NJ gaming industry eclipsed $300 million in July since 2010.
There's a lot to unpack in this month's AC casino report. One thing I noticed, this is the first $300m July for the industry since 2010. $272.3m for land-based casinos + $25.9m for online + $3.8m for sports = $302m
— Steve Ruddock (@SteveRuddock) August 14, 2018
Interestingly, the record-breaking month comes despite a sizable drop in NJ online poker, which had a year-over-year decrease of 7.9 percent with just over $1.8 million last month.
To date in 2018, online casino revenue in New Jersey is up to $165.4 million for a 16.5 percent increase from this time last year.
Golden Nugget with a record of its own
Make it five straight months that Golden Nugget has topped $8 million in online casino revenue. And, as it has done in four previous occasions, it became the first operator to reach a revenue milestone.
With a 49.3 percent year-over-year increase, Golden Nugget reported $9,328,814 in July online casino revenue — the first NJ property to exceed $9 million. That total accounted for 36 percent of the market.
Once again, Borgata was the month’s runner-up in revenue, reporting $4,931,403. It was a solid bounce-back month for the casino, which had a 9-percent drop-off from May to June. It rebounded for a 30.3 percent Y/Y increase in July. In doing so, Borgata fell just shy of joining Golden Nugget as the only operators to top $5 million.
Resorts nearly hit a milestone itself with $3,940,407 reported in July, and Caesars was right behind with $3,767,078, reflecting a 17.2 percent spike from 2017.
Among longstanding casinos in New Jersey, Tropicana rounded out the standings. As the only operator to experience a Y/Y decrease (at 6.6 percent), Trop reported $3,350,360.
Checking in on the neophytes
The two new Atlantic City casinos got their first full (or nearly full) month of online casino action in July.
After quietly launching its online casino the same day as its June 28 grand opening, Hard Rock online casino only had a few days to post $5,569 in June.
Last month, its first full month, the online casino reported $329,650, which is obviously a far cry from the market leaders. Still, it is a step in the right direction.
The other new casino along the Boardwalk, which also opened June 28, Ocean Resort Casino went live with its online platform midway through July. Despite its nearby newbie getting a head start to the month, Ocean Resort still tallied $249,805.