New Jersey’s gambling market continues to show robust growth, posting a notable 7.4% increase in June. The state’s combined earnings from land-based casinos, igaming, and sports betting reached an impressive $491.0 million for the month, surpassing last June's $457.2 million. However, this figure represents a slight decline of 3.7% from May’s $510.0 million.
Land-Based Casinos Hold Steady
The earnings from land-based casinos saw a moderate increase of 1.0%, amounting to $244.1 million. Within this sector, slot machines contributed $184.0 million, reflecting a growth of 0.6%, while table games generated $60.1 million, marking a 2.5% rise. These figures indicate that traditional casino gaming remains a solid pillar of New Jersey’s gambling revenue.
Igaming Surges Ahead
The igaming sector demonstrated remarkable growth, with revenues surging by 25.2% year-on-year to $186.8 million. Despite this surge, igaming revenue still trailed the land-based sector by $57.3 million. A closer look at the figures reveals that "Other authorized games" within the igaming sector contributed a substantial $184.4 million, up 25.6% from last year. This is in stark contrast to peer-to-peer poker, which saw a decline of 2.9% to $2.5 million.
Several key players in the igaming market posted significant year-on-year revenue increases. Golden Nugget generated $51.5 million, up 23.3%, while Resorts Digital saw a 36.4% rise, contributing $48.6 million. The Borgata also reported positive growth, with an 8.8% increase in revenue to $42.9 million.
Sports Betting Faces Challenges
While New Jersey’s overall gambling market showed resilience, the sports betting sector faced some challenges. Revenue from sports betting declined by 9.5% year-on-year to $60.1 million, and this figure was also down 23.7% from May's $78.8 million. Notably, the total amount wagered by New Jersey residents on sports betting reached $748.4 million, a significant 26.6% increase from last year’s $591.1 million. Online bets dominated the market, amounting to $719.0 million, while retail sportsbooks handled $29.5 million in bets.
Among the leading sports betting operators, FanDuel led the pack with $29.1 million in revenue, followed by DraftKings with $14.4 million. BetMGM and Bet365 also reported earnings of $3.7 million and $3.4 million, respectively, with Fanatics Sportsbook contributing $1.8 million.
Tax Contributions and Market Resilience
The gambling industry’s contribution to state taxes was significant, totaling $47.8 million in June. This included $16.2 million from land-based casino gross revenue tax and $28.0 million from igaming internet gross revenue tax. Taxes from internet sports wagering amounted to $3.6 million, with retail sports wagering from casinos contributing $7,782 and racetracks paying $71,191 in sports wagering taxes.
For the first six months of the year, the total market revenue reached $3.06 billion, representing a 12.2% rise from last year’s $2.73 billion. Land-based casinos contributed $1.36 billion to this total, with slot machines generating $998.3 million and table games adding $357.8 million. Igaming revenue for the same period was $1.1 billion, up 21.4% year-on-year, with "Other authorized games" contributing $1.12 billion. Peer-to-peer poker, however, saw a 4.2% decline to $14.1 million.
Sports betting revenue for the first half of the year stood at $573.1 million, marking a 30.0% increase from the previous year. The year-to-date handle for sports betting surpassed $6.76 billion, with online sports betting contributing $6.53 billion and retail locations accounting for $231.0 million.
Despite the fluctuations in the sports betting sector, New Jersey’s gambling market demonstrates strong resilience and adaptability. The continued growth in the igaming and land-based casino sectors underscores the state's dynamic and evolving gambling landscape, promising an intriguing remainder of the year for industry stakeholders.