Conor Porter is an iGaming and gambling industry journalist covering global casino and sports betting markets. His reporting focuses on industry news, regulation and commercial developments shaping the sector.
Read Full BioNew Jersey has reported a year-over-year uptick in February gaming revenue following gains across igaming and sports betting.
However, land-based casino operations across the Garden State’s nine casino hotel properties dipped during the month in comparison to the same period the previous year, with three casinos undergoing double-digit percentage revenue declines.
According to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, total gaming revenue in February from casinos, racetracks and partners came in at $461.5m, a 12 per cent improvement in comparison to February 2023’s $412.2m. Year to date, total revenue has risen by 20.2 per cent to $1.02bn (YTD 2023: $849.1m).
Per segment, land-based casino operations had the biggest share of total revenue generated during the month with $211.6m, followed by igaming with $182.3m and sports betting with $67.6m.
From all operators in New Jersey, $50.2m was paid in taxes to the state for February.
In comparison to the same period the previous year, casino revenue of $211.6m in February was a 1.6 per cent decrease compared to February 2023’s $215m. YTD revenue for the segment stands at $416.3m, down 2.4 per cent YoY (YTD 2023: $426.6m).
Per vertical within casino, slot machine revenue fell by 0.3 per cent YoY to $158.9m (Feb 2023: $159.3m) while table game revenue declined slightly to $52.7m (Feb 2023: $55.6m).
Borgata led the way in terms of revenue in February with $53.6m (Feb 2023: $57.5m), followed by Hard Rock at $41.1m (Feb 2023: $37.5m) and Ocean Casino rounding off the top three with $31.1m (Feb 2023: $26.3m). No other casino generated more than $19m in revenue during the month.
Three casinos saw double-digit percentage YoY revenue declines in February. Harrah’s fell by 14.7 per cent to $18.2m (Feb 2023: $21.4m), Caesars dropped by 13.7 per cent to $16.4m (Feb 2023: $19m), while Bally’s declined by 13.1 per cent to $10.7m (Feb 2023: $12.3m).
Igaming revenue improved by 27.9 per cent YoY to $182.3m (Feb 2023: $142.6m). YTD, igaming revenue stands at $365.6m, up 23.7 per cent in comparison to the previous year (YTD 2023: $295.5m).
Per operator, Golden Nugget led the way with $51.5m (Feb 2023: $36.5m), Resorts Digital was next with $48m (Feb 2023: $36m) and Borgata completed the top three with $40m (Feb 2023: $39.7m).
While no other igaming operator had more than $12m in revenue during the month, all but three operators – Borgata (0.7 per cent), Harrah’s (N/A) and Caesars Interactive NJ (32.8 per cent decline) – underwent double-digit percentage revenue growth in comparison to the same period the previous year.
Hard Rock achieved the biggest YoY revenue growth in February, rising by 82.7 per cent to $10.3m (Feb 2023: $5.6m).
Revenue during the month across New Jersey’s sports wagering operators improved by 23.7 per cent to $67.6m (Feb 2023: $54.6m) with a handle of $1.08bn. YTD, sports betting revenue rose by 87.7 per cent to $238.3m (YTD 2023: $127m) with a handle of $2.8bn.
Per operator, Meadowlands/FanDuel/PointsBet/Superbook led the way with $35.1m in revenue (Feb 2023: $32.1m), followed by Resorts Digital/DraftKings with $24.2m (Feb 2023: $12.3m), Borgata/BetMGM with $4.5m (Feb 2023: $4.1m) and Hard Rock/Unibet/bet365 with $3.7m (Feb 2023: $1.3m).
Five operators suffered revenue loss during the month, with the largest coming from Freehold Raceway/ESPNBet/betPARX with a $2.2m loss.
