NJ Casino Revenues Hold Steady Thanks To Another $20 Million-Plus Month From Legal Online Gambling

[toc]Thanks to another $20 million-plus month in the online gambling sector, New Jersey’s casino industry revenues held relatively steady in the month of August.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released August 2017 revenue numbers this week based on filings from Atlantic City’s seven casinos and their NJ online gambling divisions.

According to the numbers, total land-based New Jersey casino revenues hit $223.5 million, down 2.7 percent from $229.7 million in the same month last year.

Of course, the 2016 figures include $13.7 million in revenue reported by the now closed-for-rebranding-and-remodeling Trump Taj Mahal.

NJ online gambling sites all but offset land-based declines

However, significant gains posted by New Jersey’s online gambling sites all but offset the land-based declines. In fact, Garden State online casino sites posted $21.2 million in internet gambling revenue in August 2017. This was up 32.4 percent from the $16 million reported in the same month last year.

The big internet gaming win numbers helped push the state’s total casino revenues up to $244.8 million for August 2017. This marked just a 0.4 percent decrease from the $245.8 million reported in the same month last year.

Year-to-date numbers up

In fact, year-to-date numbers remain up across the board. Land-based casino revenues are up to $1.64 billion from $1.639 through the first eight months of the year.

Plus, internet gambling revenues are up a whopping 27.3 percent. Internet gambling revenues went from $128.2 million from January to August 2016 to $163.27 million so far this year.

Total casino revenues through August 2017 have now reached $1.803 billion. This marked an increase of two percent from the $1.767 reported in the same period in 2016. Once again, the 2016 figures include revenue reported by the Trump Taj Mahal, which included $116.4 million in the first eight months of the year.

Thanks to a record $196.7 million internet gaming win reported in 2016, New Jersey’s once-ailing casino industry posted a total gaming win $2.603 billion in 2016. This represented a 1.5 percent jump over 2015 and the first increase seen by the industry in a decade.

According to these latest numbers, the industry remains on pace for another increase this year.

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Borgata by land, Golden Nugget by wifi

When it comes to land-based casinos the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa continued its 14-year dominance over the rest of the market. Borgata posted revenues of $70.3 million in August 2017. This was up 7.4 percent from the $65.5 million the property reported in August 2016.

Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City was a distant second, reporting $32.2 million in revenue from its land-based gambling operations. This number was down 3.9 percent from the $33.5 million in revenue Harrah’s reported in August 2016.

As it has for most of 2017, Golden Nugget set the revenue pace online in August 2017. Sites operating under the Golden Nugget’s online gambling license, including Golden Nugget, Betfair, and SugarHouse, reported $5.19 million in revenue. This number was up 49.6 percent from the $3.46 million reported in August 2016.

Caesars and Borgata had huge months online as well. Sites operating under the Caesars Interactive license, including Caesars, Harrah’s, WSOP, and 888, posted $4.44 million in revenue. This was up a massive 42.7 percent from the $3.1 million the sites posted in the same month in 2016.

Borgata’s online gambling sites, including its own, partypoker, three Pala sites, and now playMGM and Scores-branded sites, hit $4.29 million in revenue. This was up 14.9 percent from a year ago.

About the Author

Martin Derbyshire

In his over 10 years covering the US online poker, legal NJ online gambling, and land-based casino industries, Martin Derbyshire has worn the hats of award-winning journalist and video and film producer. He has logged countless miles reporting on the world of high stakes gambling.