The gambling market in New Jersey continues to demonstrate its resilience and growth potential, as evidenced by a 7.4% increase in June's overall revenue, reaching a robust $491.0 million. This marks a significant rise from June of the previous year, which saw revenue figures of $457.2 million, although slightly trailing behind this May's earnings of $510.0 million by 3.7%.
Land-Based Casinos: Marginal Gains
Breaking down the figures, land-based casinos in New Jersey posted a modest but positive growth of 1.0%, culminating in $244.1 million in June. Evaluating the individual components of these earnings, slot machines contributed $184.0 million, achieving a 0.6% increase. Table games experienced more pronounced growth, with a 2.5% rise, resulting in $60.1 million in revenue.
iGaming Sector: A Surge in Popularity
The iGaming sector is perhaps the most notable performer in the state's gambling market. It witnessed a year-on-year surge of 25.2%, generating $186.8 million and trailing behind the land-based sector by $57.3 million. Within the iGaming domain, "other authorized games" were the primary contributors, raking in $184.4 million—a hefty 25.6% increase. However, peer-to-peer poker did not fare as well, experiencing a 2.9% decline with $2.5 million in revenue.
Among the top performers in the iGaming sector, the Golden Nugget led the pack with $51.5 million, marking a 23.3% increase from the previous year. Resorts Digital followed closely with $48.6 million, which represents a significant 36.4% year-on-year increase. The Borgata also showed solid performance, generating $42.9 million, an 8.8% improvement over last year’s figures.
Sports Betting: A Mixed Bag
Sports betting had a more challenging month. Revenue fell by 9.5% year-on-year to $60.1 million and dropped 23.7% from May's $78.8 million. Despite this, the volume of bets placed by New Jersey residents saw a substantial increase. Residents placed bets worth $748.4 million, a 26.6% increase from the previous year’s $591.1 million. Remarkably, online bets dominated, accounting for $719.0 million of the total, while retail sportsbooks recorded $29.5 million in bets.
FanDuel led the sports betting market, generating $29.1 million in revenue. DraftKings also made a significant contribution with $14.4 million, followed by BetMGM with $3.7 million, Bet365 with $3.4 million, and Fanatics Sportsbook contributing $1.8 million.
Tax Contributions and Broader Economic Impact
New Jersey’s gambling market is not just about revenue generation; it also makes a considerable contribution to the state’s tax coffers. In June alone, the industry contributed $47.8 million in taxes. This includes $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. Retail sports wagering from casinos added $7,782 in taxes, while racetracks paid $71,191 in sports wagering taxes.
First Half of the Year: Cumulative Success
Looking at the broader picture, for the first six months of the year, total market revenue reached an impressive $3.06 billion, representing a 12.2% rise from last year’s $2.73 billion. Land-based casinos contributed a substantial $1.36 billion to this total, with slot machines and table games generating $998.3 million and $357.8 million respectively.
The iGaming sector also demonstrated strong growth in the first half of the year, contributing $1.1 billion, up by 21.4% from the previous year. "Other authorized games" accounted for $1.12 billion of this revenue, showing a 21.8% increase, while peer-to-peer poker generated $14.1 million, a 4.2% decline.
Sports betting revenue for the first half of the year was equally notable, totaling $573.1 million, which is a 30.0% increase year-on-year. The year-to-date handle for sports betting surpassed $6.76 billion, with online sports betting contributing a staggering $6.53 billion and retail locations adding $231.0 million.
Despite facing some challenges, particularly in the sports betting sector, New Jersey’s gambling market has proven its resilience and adaptability. With strong performances in both the iGaming and land-based casino sectors, the industry continues to be a significant economic contributor to the state, showing promising signs of sustained growth and stability.