New Jersey gaming revenue climbs 10% to $470 million in August

Yogonet

21 October 2022

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcementannounced the state’s financial results for August 2022, which saw a total gaming revenue of $470.6 million, as reported by casinos, racetracks and their partners. The results reflect a 10.1% increase in contrast with August 2021.

In-person casino win for the nine state properties reached $274 million, a 4.4% growth year-over-year. However, the total still fell behind pre-pandemic levels, when the total amounted to more than $286 million, proving the land-based sector still has yet to reach its former self.

Still, five of the nine casinos reported increases in the amount of money won compared to a year earlier. Borgata saw $120.7 million, up 29%; while Hard Rock made $54 million, up 2.8%. Ocean Casino Resort reported $40 million, up nearly 14%; Bally’s saw just over $20 million, up nearly 30%; and Resorts made $18.7 million, up 0.2%.

The remaining four casinos reported revenue declines in a year-over-year comparison. Golden Nugget saw $44.5 million, down 2.7%; Tropicana rakedin $35.1 million, down 7.8%; Harrah’s made just over $25 million, down 10.4%; and Caesars made $22 million down 13%.

TheBorgata had its second-best month ever in August, trailing only the $124 million it won from gamblers in July. Both those figures represent the highest totals ever achieved by an Atlantic City casino. Among internet-only entities, Resorts Digital won $43.5 million, up nearly 26%, and Caesars Interactive NJ won $8.9 million, down 10%.

When it comes to online gambling, the state’s casinos and their partners saw $131.4 million in win, an increase of 16.1% compared to a year prior. Sports betting reached $65.3 million, a 25.5% growth compared to 2021.

These achievements in iGaming and sports betting could be seen as a positive contribution to the state as it tries to come afloat after COVID. However, casino executives have stated that these figures are misleading as casinos do not get to keep all that money, which must be shared with third parties including tech platforms and sportsbooks.

Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, which studies the Atlantic City casino industry, deems August’s performance “a solid showing," as reported by Associated Press. While she noted that in-person casino winnings are trailing the pre-pandemic level of August 2019, they still exceeded every other August since 2015. She pointed to the slow growth of brick-and-mortar gaming revenues compared to the increasing contribution of internet gaming to total revenue.

She stated that this “could potentially suggest a change in consumer behavior that doesn’t cannibalize in-person gaming but includes significant internet gaming activity." “A decreased reliance on exclusively in-person gaming activity has the potential to keep the New Jersey casino industry competitive with its neighbors and make it more resilient to market disruptions that might potentially occur in the future," she added.

As reported by AP, James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, stated that this “has been a great summer for Atlantic City and the region,” and added that the recent efforts to create “impressive in-person experiences will continue to provide positive momentum going into the fall.”

Comparing results from the three summer months to the same period last year, Atlantic City’s casino winnings grew more than 6% and total gambling revenue exceeded $1.2 billion, up 9%, according to Plousis.

For the first eight months of the calendar year, casinos, tracks and their partners have collectively won $3.38 billion, up 13.2 from the same period last year. The casinos and tracks took in $546.7 million worth of sports bets in August, and kept $65.2 million of that as revenue after paying off winning bets and other expenses.

Internet casino games brought in $131.4 million in August, up over 16% from a year earlier. On Wednesday, a state legislative panel indicated that New Jersey lawmakers are prepared to extend the authorization for online gambling in the state for another 10 years.