New Jersey Gambling Market Posts 7.4% Growth in June
New Jersey's gambling market experienced a noteworthy surge in June, reporting a 7.4% growth. The combined earnings from land-based casinos, iGaming, and sports betting reached an impressive $491.0 million for the month. This figure is a significant increase from last June's $457.2 million but slightly trails May's $510.0 million by 3.7%.
Land-Based Casinos Show Steady Growth
Revenue from land-based casinos saw a modest increase of 1.0%, totaling $244.1 million. Slot machines played a central role in this growth, generating $184.0 million, marking a 0.6% rise. Table games also contributed positively, with a 2.5% increase to $60.1 million.
iGaming Continues to Surge
The iGaming sector demonstrated robust performance in June, with a notable year-on-year revenue surge of 25.2%, reaching $186.8 million. However, it still trailed the land-based casino sector by $57.3 million. Among the iGaming revenue, "other authorized games" contributed $184.4 million, up 25.6%. Peer-to-peer poker, on the other hand, declined by 2.9%, contributing $2.5 million.
Leading the iGaming charge, Golden Nugget generated $51.5 million, reflecting a 23.3% increase from the previous year. Resorts Digital outperformed with a 36.4% year-on-year increase, totaling $48.6 million in revenue. The Borgata also saw a significant rise, generating $42.9 million and marking an 8.8% increase from last year's figures.
Challenges in Sports Betting
Conversely, sports betting revenue faced challenges, declining by 9.5% year-on-year to $60.1 million and down 23.7% from May's $78.8 million. Despite these setbacks, the total bets placed by New Jersey residents amounted to $748.4 million, a substantial 26.6% increase from last year's $591.1 million. A significant portion of these bets, $719.0 million, were placed online, while retail sportsbooks took in $29.5 million.
Among the key players, FanDuel emerged as the leader in sports betting revenue, generating $29.1 million. DraftKings followed with $14.4 million, BetMGM with $3.7 million, Bet365 contributed $3.4 million, and Fanatics Sportsbook rounded out with $1.8 million.
Tax Contributions and Year-to-Date Performance
New Jersey’s gambling industry made substantial contributions to the state’s tax revenue, paying $47.8 million in June. This included $16.2 million from land-based casino gross revenue tax, $28.0 million from iGaming internet gross revenue tax, and $3.6 million from internet sports wagering tax. Additionally, retail sports wagering from casinos contributed $7,782, while racetracks paid $71,191 in sports wagering taxes.
For the first six months of the year, the total market revenue reached an impressive $3.06 billion, reflecting a 12.2% rise from last year’s $2.73 billion. Land-based casinos played a significant role, contributing $1.36 billion. Within this category, slot machines generated $998.3 million, and table games accounted for $357.8 million.
The iGaming sector continued its upward trajectory, with revenue for the first half of the year reaching $1.1 billion, up 21.4% from the previous year. "Other authorized games" were the main contributors with $1.12 billion, while peer-to-peer poker saw a slight decline, contributing $14.1 million, down 4.2%.
Sports betting also showed a positive trend for the first half of the year, with revenue totaling $573.1 million, marking a 30.0% year-on-year increase. The year-to-date handle for sports betting surpassed $6.76 billion, driven predominantly by online sports betting, which contributed $6.53 billion. Retail locations added $231.0 million to the handle.
Despite the hurdles in the sports betting sector, New Jersey’s gambling market has demonstrated resilience and adaptability, with significant growth in the iGaming and land-based casino sectors, paving the way for a robust future in the industry.