Online casinos in New Jersey continued to move from strength to strength through September, as the region’s sports betting ecosystem rode the beginning of an anticipated surge.
The Garden State’s igaming environment produced a record $122.6m in gross gaming revenue in September, up 39.9 per cent from $87.6m in 2020 and surpassing a prior best of $118.7m which was set in July.
Online casino games accounted for $120.1m of September’s revenue, a 41.2 per cent rise from $85.1m, with online poker generating the remaining $2.5m, down 2.4 per cent from $2.6m.
This comes as the jurisdiction’s total gambling revenue for the month reached $454.56m, which represents a 40.3 per cent uptick from $323.28m year-on-year. This broke the state’s previous record of $450.6m, which was also set in July.
Borgata/BetMGM topped the market with $38.2m (2020: $20.2m) in casino and poker revenue in September, ahead of Golden Nugget’s $31.1m (2020: $26m) and Resorts Digital’s $28.3m (2020: $20m).
However, the performance of GNOG ensured that it became the first operator to generate more than $1bn in lifetime revenue, nearly $200m more than the second placed Borgata.
Land-based gaming revenue came in at $248.5m, which is a 30.4 per cent increase from 2020’s $190.5m, with Borgata continuing to lead the way with a 51.9 per cent rise from $39.6m to $60.2m.
“Acceptance of online casino gambling accelerated during the pandemic, and it has left the industry with its most consistent revenue driver,” commented David Danzis, an analyst for PlayNJ.
“There was once a fear that online gaming would sap Atlantic City of its appeal. But as retail gaming slowly returns to health, it shows that the industry is stronger with a diverse revenue stream from online and retail casinos and sportsbooks.”
New Jersey’s online and retail sportsbooks attracted $1.01bn in bets during the month, breaking the state and US record of $996.3m set in the region in December 2020.
This volume represents an uplift of 35.1 per cent from the $748.6m generated in September 2020, and 52.1 per cent from $664.7m one month earlier.
Moreover, gross gaming revenue also narrowly missed out on an all-time high, after rising 82.9 per cent to $82.4m from $45.1m in September 2020 and 58.5% from $52m in August.
September’s revenue was just short of the previous high of $82.6m in January. Sports betting produced $12.1m in state and local taxes in September.
Bettors wagered $918.4m in September through online sportsbooks, representing 90.8 per cent of the statewide handle, the second-most all-time. Meadowlands/FanDuel/PointsBet/SuperBook again led the market with $36.6m in gross revenue, up from $23.6m in August.
Retail sportsbooks attracted a record $92.7m in September, up from $51.8m in wagers in August. Meadowlands/FanDuel dominated the market with $4.7m in revenue.
“Football wagering is vital in every state where sports betting is legal and necessary for sportsbooks to reach such heights,” added Danzis.
“What’s most impressive is just how much New Jersey has evolved into a market with no equals. The Garden State’s 12 highest volume months happen to be the 12 highest volume months in US history. And all of them have come since August 2020.”