All of New Jersey’s gaming verticals have reported year-over-year revenue improvements in February as the state continued its growth in the second month of 2023.
Data from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has revealed that total gaming revenue – casinos, racetracks, and their partners – was $412.2m for February, a 10.4 per cent uptick YoY compared to the same month last year (2022: $373.3m).
Combined with January’s figures, the Garden State’s total gaming revenue for the year currently stands at $849.1m, a 12.5 per cent rise YoY compared to the same period the previous year (2022: $755m).
New Jersey igaming growth
New Jersey’s online casino revenue grew by 9.7 per cent YoY to $142.6m (2022: $130m). YTD, the figure currently stands at $295.5m, a 10.3 per cent increase YoY (2022: $267.8m).
Per igaming operator, Borgata led the way in February with $39.7m (2022: $37.8m), followed by Golden Nugget with $36.5m (2022: $34.6m), and Resorts Digital with $36m (2022: $29.9m). No other operator reached over $30m in revenue.
Bally’s was the operator that saw the most significant increase compared to the previous year, growing by 340.1 per cent to $5.9m (2022: $1.3m), followed by Ocean Casino which grew by 238.6 per cent to $3.8m (2022: $1.1m).
Tropicana saw the biggest decrease in revenue, falling by 26.5 per cent to $6.7m (2022: $9.1m), followed by Caesars Interactive which fell by 17.5 per cent to $8.3m (2022: $10.1m), and Hard Rock which fell by 7.1 per cent to $5.6m (2022: $6m).
Casino improves slightly
For land-based casinos – nine casino hotel properties – the NJDGE declared revenue of $215m in February, a 1.2 per cent uptick YoY (2022: $212.4m). YTD, revenue for the vertical stands at $426.6m, a 7.7 per cent growth YoY (2022: $396.1m).
Broken down, New Jersey slot machine revenue for February came in at $159.3m, a 3.5 per cent increase YoY (2022: $153.9m), but table game revenue fell by 4.9 per cent to $55.6m (2022: $58.5m).
YTD, both verticals improved in the Garden State. Slot machine revenue rose by 9.9 per cent to $311.2m (2022: $283m), while table game revenue grew by 2.1 per cent to $115.5m (2022: $113.1m).
Per operator, Borgata was also top in February with $57.5m (2022: $52.8m), followed by Hard Rock with $37.5m (2022: $37.4m), and Ocean Casino with $26.3m (2022: $29.7m).
While Ocean Casino came in third on the month in terms of revenue, this was an 11.5 per cent decline from the previous year. Only Golden Nugget had a bigger decrease in revenue YoY, falling by 13.9 per cent to $11.2m (2022: $13m).
Bally’s saw the biggest increase in revenue YoY, growing by 14.3 per cent to $12.3m (2022: $10.7m), followed by Borgata at 8.8 per cent, and Harrah’s, which rose by 8.1 per cent to $26.3m (2022: $29.7m).
Sportsbook increase
Elsewhere, the NJDGE reported that sports betting revenue in February came in at $54.6m, growing by 76.9 per cent YoY (2022: $30.9m). YTD, revenue in the vertical stands at $127m, a 39.4 per cent increase YoY (2022: $91.1m).
New Jersey sportsbooks reported a handle of $847.4m in February with $801.4m coming from online operations.
Per operator, Meadowlands/FanDuel/PointsBet was the Garden State’s top sportsbook in terms of revenue with $32.1m, a 131 per cent increase (2022: $13.9m).
Next up was Resorts Digital/DraftKings/FoxBet with $12.3m, a 42.6 per cent increase (2022: $8.6m), followed by Borgata/BetMGM with $4.1m, an 11.2 per cent uptick (2022: $3.6m), and Tropicana/William Hill/Mojo which rose by 811 per cent to $2.3m (2022: $329,788 loss).
For February, New Jersey operators paid $42.9m in state taxes, bringing the total amount of taxes paid to the Garden State in 2023 so far to $88.3m.