The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement revealed that Internet gambling in the state brought in just over $214 million in November, narrowly eclipsing the previous record of $213 million set a month earlier. In contrast to the new all-time high in this vertical, revenue from physical casinos continued to lag behind pre-pandemic levels at six of Atlantic City’s nine casinos, numbers released Monday show.
“The continuing success of online gaming and sports wagering has helped total gaming revenue achieve its best November monthly result in over a decade,” said James Plousis, Chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, as per Associated Press‘ report.
However, land-based casinos must share a substantial portion of internet and sports betting revenue with partners including sportsbooks and tech platforms. For that reason, the properties consider money won from in-person gamblers to be their core business, which has been delivering mixed results over the last few years.
The casinos collectively matched their pre-pandemic in-person revenue total of $223.9 million in November. However, only three casinos — Hard Rock, Ocean, and Resorts, which barely exceeded its pre-pandemic level — won more from in-person gamblers in November than they did in November 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak began.
The continuing surge in internet gambling represents a trend that has been present in New Jersey for several years now. It was accelerated by the pandemic, which forced the casinos to close for over 3 months in 2020 and pushed many people to online alternatives that they have continued to use even in the years after the outbreak waned.
November’s $214 million in internet revenue was up nearly 25% from a year ago. Associated Press cited Jane Bokunewicz, Director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, which studies the Atlantic City gambling industry, who noted that New Jersey’s iGaming market exceeded $200 million for the third month in a row.
When internet and sports betting revenue is included, the casinos, two horse tracks that take sports bets, and their online and tech partners won $556 million in November, an increase of 15.4%. That was helped by two additional weekend days in November that did not occur in November 2023.
Borgata won a combined $122.6 million in November, up over 25% from a year earlier. Resorts won nearly $101 million, up nearly 28%; Golden Nugget won nearly $77 million, up 26%; Hard Rock won $63.5 million, up over 21%; Ocean won $39.8 million, up 8.6%; Bally’s won $24.5 million, up over 24%; Harrah’s won $18.5 million, down 4.4%; Tropicana won $16.6 million, down 7.3%, and Caesars won $16.5 million, down 7.4%.
In terms of in-person revenue only, Borgata won $57.5 million, up 11.4% from a year earlier; Hard Rock won $44.3 million, up 7.1%; Ocean won $34 million, up 8.2%; Harrah’s won $18.5 million, down 5.6%; Tropicana won $16.7 million, down 6.6%; Resorts won $13.9 million, up nearly 12%; Golden Nugget won $11.7 million, up 6.7%, and Bally’s won $10.8 million, down 10.3%.
Sports betting brought in nearly $119 million in revenue on $1.2 billion worth of bets.
The Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, just outside New York City, had $50.5 million in sports betting revenue, down 12.3% from a year ago. It has a FanDuel sportsbook on the premises.
Resorts, which is allied with DraftKings with a retail location and online operations, had nearly $38 million in sports betting revenue in November, nearly double the amount from a year earlier.
Monmouth Park in Oceanport, near the Jersey Shore, had $2.5 million in sports betting revenue. That was up 163% from a year earlier, helped by the recent cessation of sports betting operations at a competing track in the same county, Freehold Raceway, which is closing at the end of this month.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2024/12/17/88875-new-jersey-breaks-igaming-revenue-record-in-november-but-inperson-gambling-still-struggling
