New Jersey's gambling market is showcasing resilience and dynamism, registering a notable 7.4% growth in June. The combined earnings from land-based casinos, igaming, and sports betting reached a robust $491.0 million, surpassing last June's $457.2 million, albeit trailing May's $510.0 million by 3.7%.
Land-Based Casinos
Land-based casino revenue saw a modest but meaningful increase of 1.0% year-on-year, totaling $244.1 million. Slot machines continue to be a major driver, generating $184.0 million, representing a slight uptick of 0.6%. Table games also contributed positively, with revenue rising by 2.5% to reach $60.1 million.
Igaming on the Rise
The igaming sector, however, took the spotlight, posting a significant year-on-year surge of 25.2%, with revenues hitting $186.8 million. "Other authorised games" within this sector were particularly strong, contributing $184.4 million, up 25.6%. Despite this stellar performance, igaming revenue still lagged behind the land-based sector by $57.3 million.
Leading the charge in igaming, Golden Nugget generated $51.5 million in revenue, marking an impressive 23.3% increase from the previous year. Resorts Digital followed closely, with a 36.4% year-on-year increase to $48.6 million. The Borgata also posted gains, bringing in $42.9 million, up 8.8% from the previous year’s figures. However, peer-to-peer poker did not share in this growth, reporting a decline of 2.9% to $2.5 million.
Sports Betting Challenges
In contrast, the sports betting sector faced some challenges. Revenue dropped by 9.5% year-on-year to $60.1 million and experienced a significant decline of 23.7% from May's $78.8 million. Nonetheless, New Jersey residents demonstrated their enthusiasm, placing bets worth $748.4 million—a substantial 26.6% increase from last year’s $591.1 million. The lion's share of these bets, $719.0 million, were placed online, while retail sportsbooks took in $29.5 million in bets.
The competition among major players in the sports betting market remained fierce. FanDuel led the pack, generating $29.1 million in revenue, followed by DraftKings with $14.4 million. BetMGM and Bet365 reported revenues of $3.7 million and $3.4 million, respectively. Meanwhile, the newcomer Fanatics Sportsbook made its mark with $1.8 million in revenue.
Tax Contributions and Market Resilience
New Jersey’s gambling industry also made significant contributions to state taxes, totaling $47.8 million in June. This included $16.2 million from land-based casino gross revenue tax, $28.0 million from igaming internet gross revenue tax, and $3.6 million from internet sports wagering tax. Retail sports wagering from casinos and racetracks contributed $7,782 and $71,191 in sports wagering taxes, respectively.
The impressive performance in June contributed to the total market revenue of $3.06 billion for the first six months of the year, marking a 12.2% increase from last year’s $2.73 billion. Land-based casinos were responsible for $1.36 billion of this total revenue, with slot machines generating $998.3 million and table games contributing $357.8 million.
Igaming continued its upward trajectory, generating $1.1 billion in the first six months, up 21.4% from the previous year. "Other authorized games" were major contributors with $1.12 billion, up 21.8%. Peer-to-peer poker, however, saw a slight downturn, contributing $14.1 million, down 4.2%.
Sports Betting Year-to-Date
Despite the hurdles in June, sports betting revenue for the first half of the year reached $573.1 million, reflecting a healthy 30.0% year-on-year growth. The year-to-date handle for sports betting surpassed the $6.76 billion mark, with online sports betting contributing $6.53 billion and retail locations adding $231.0 million.
Overall, the New Jersey gambling market has demonstrated considerable resilience and growth, particularly in the igaming and land-based casino sectors, even as the sports betting segment faced some challenges. This robust performance underlines the dynamism and adaptability of New Jersey's gambling industry.