Online casinos in New Jersey are way out in front of 2022’s record-setting pace through August, according to recent numbers from state regulators.
Data released Friday by the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement shows NJ online casino gambling generated nearly $155.3 million in revenue last month, an 18.1% year-over-year increase from August ’22. Year-to-date, online casinos have netted more than $1.24 billion in revenue, which is 14.6% higher than at the same point last year.
The state collected more than $23.2 million in taxes from NJ online casino revenue in August and $186 million for the entire year. AC’s nine casinos have collectively paid $121.7 million in taxes on in-person gambling revenues in 2023.
State gaming regulators lump groups of online gambling operators together under AC casino licenses or approved online entities for reporting purposes. As such, determining revenue from specific websites or mobile apps is not possible.
Resorts Digital reported more than $42.3 million last month, a year-over-year increase of 37.6%. Resorts Casino, Mohegan Sun Casino, Poker Stars and DraftKings all operate under Resorts Digital’s license.
BetMGM, Party Casino & Party Poker, Pala Casino, Wheel of Fortune Casino (among others) all report under Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Last month, the online operators generated just over $40.2 million. Compared to August 2022, the grouping’s revenue declined by 3.8%.
Golden Nugget Atlantic City and its online partners, including BetRivers and BetWay reported $40.8 million in August. Last month’s reported revenue is 30% higher than August 2022.
Bally’s AC posted the largest Y-o-Y percentage increase last month, boosting revenue by 81.3% to $8.2 million.
Ocean Casino Resort and its online partners reported a 58.3% Y-o-Y increase but the market’s lowest monthly revenue of $4.6 million. Hard Rock AC‘s online casino brands reported $6.2 million, up 7.2% from August 2022.
Caesars Interactive ($6.6 million, -25.7%) and Tropicana AC ($6.3 million, +17.3%) were heading in different directions last month but remain on a similar path year-to-date path. The two entities are down 15.1% and 14.5%, respectively, compared to 2022. They are the only licensees reporting a decline in online gaming revenue for the year.
Online gambling in NJ (excluding sports) now accounts for 31% of the gross gaming revenue (GGR) reported out of Atlantic City. The city’s nine casinos account for 55.8% of the total, the lowest such percentage in the 10 years of legal online gambling in NJ.
Jane Bokunewicz, faculty director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT) at Stockton University, noted online gaming’s rising share of reported revenue in NJ. Bokunewicz said this in a press release:
“As demonstrated in the monthly GGR returns, internet gaming has become an increasing share of revenue for Atlantic City’s casino operators. In Summer 2023 (June – August) at the peak of the resort’s tourism season, GGR from internet gaming represented nearly a third (32.7%) of the industry’s total GGR for the period. Even before the acceleration of internet gaming observed during the pandemic, internet gaming revenues represented 22% of total GGR for Summer 2019.”
