New Jersey’s online casinos and their retail counterparts in Atlantic City are in a tight race to determine which is the bigger money-maker. In October 2024, New Jersey online casinos pulled ahead of the brick-and-mortar sector for the first time, but one month later, the land-based component of New Jersey’s gambling industry has struck back.
Brick-and-mortar casinos reported almost $224 million in winnings for November, besting the $214 million that online casinos tallied for the month. But despite falling back into “second place,” New Jersey online casinos maintained a high growth rate, which could put them back on the top of the podium sooner rather than later.
New Jerseyans show Atlantic City some love in November
November was a solid month for Atlantic City in terms of their winnings from physical poker games, slots, and table games. According to a release from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the nine Atlantic City casinos reported about $223.9 million in gross gaming revenue for November.
That represents just a marginal increase compared to November 2023 but a YOY marginal increase is a great improvement from previous months. For example, October 2024 saw a YOY decrease of almost nine percent.
That performance contributed to a historic October, in which New Jersey online casinos outperformed Atlantic City in terms of gross gaming revenue for the first time. While that looks like more of an outlier than a new normal at this point, some data suggest that it could happen again.
New Jersey online casinos set new record
With November numbers giving perspective, October’s peculiarity looks to be more about Atlantic City underperforming than online casinos in New Jersey punching above their weight. New Jersey’s nearly 30 online casino brands reported $214 million in winnings for November 2024, a new single-month record in New Jersey.
The previous monthly high was October’s $213.6 million. Although the rate of YOY growth slowed somewhat in November compared to October, it still came out to an impressive 24.7%.
Also notably, New Jersey online casinos have amassed over $2 billion in winnings for the calendar year 2024 through its first 11 months now. Compared to the first 11 months of 2023, online casino winnings for New Jersey licensees is up about 23.8%.
That rate of growth, compared to a few percentage points in a good month for land-based casino revenue, is a primary reason why online casinos in New Jersey may someday become the new gold standard. It is questionable how much longer the online casino operators will be able to sustain growth of 20% or more, however.
In the here and now, setting single-month records in four consecutive months is something that the entire industry can celebrate. For individual operators in the market, November either ringed in the holiday season happily or gave reason to reflect.
Upstart continues to rise as powers are entrenched
As far as New Jersey online casino market share is concerned, the usual suspects remained atop their perches in November. FanDuel Casino was the top individual performer, followed by DraftKings Casino and BetMGM Casino.
| Online casino | Total Revenue | Slots & Tables | Poker |
|---|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | $47,861,010 | $47,861,010 | $--- |
| DraftKings | $42,157,663 | $42,157,663 | $--- |
| BetMGM | $27,544,091 | $27,097,727 | $446,364 |
| Borgata | $22,156,618 | $21,776,266 | $380,352 |
| Caesars Palace | $13,199,420 | $13,199,420 | $--- |
| Hard Rock Bet | $9,780,985 | $9,780,985 | $--- |
| Golden Nugget | $9,563,952 | $9,563,952 | $--- |
| BetRivers | $6,000,473 | $6,000,473 | $--- |
| Fanatics | $4,434,506 | $4,434,506 | $--- |
| Bally | $4,360,446 | $4,360,446 | $--- |
| Playstar | $3,041,742 | $3,041,742 | $--- |
| Tropicana | $2,935,865 | $2,935,865 | $--- |
| Hollywood | $2,851,197 | $2,851,197 | $--- |
| PartyPoker | $1,784,720 | $1,596,363 | $188,357 |
| Resorts | $1,760,733 | $1,760,733 | $--- |
| Bet365 | $1,646,665 | $1,646,665 | $--- |
| Ocean | $1,596,205 | $1,596,205 | $--- |
| Jackpocket | $1,377,376 | $1,377,376 | $--- |
| Parx | $1,162,461 | $1,162,461 | $--- |
| PokerStars | $1,159,187 | $560,066 | $599,121 |
| Mohegan Sun | $1,133,344 | $1,133,344 | $--- |
| Pala/Stardust | $1,056,239 | $1,056,239 | $--- |
| Monopoly | $989,460 | $989,460 | $--- |
| Jackpot City | $987,609 | $987,609 | $--- |
| Harrah's | $929,925 | $929,925 | $--- |
| WSOP.com | $890,713 | $158,055 | $732,658 |
| Wheel of Fortune | $842,020 | $842,020 | $--- |
| Betway | $817,107 | $817,107 | $--- |
| Total | $214,021,732 | $211,674,880 | $2,346,852 |
Of note is the sustained ascension of Fanatics Casino. It cleared $4 million in winnings for the first time in New Jersey in November, continuing a now six-month trend of considerable and consistent gains.
November spun a different narrative for Hollywood Casino, though. After climbing to over $3.2 million in winnings in October, it retreated to under $2.9 million for November.
The Monopoly online casino had a decent first month in New Jersey after rebranding from Virgin. Promotions continue as Bally’s looks to feel out the market for its new product.
The landscape of Atlantic City’s competition to be the top performer remains largely static compared to previous year and previous month returns.
| Licensee | Total Revenue | Slots & Tables | Poker | Promos | Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bally's Atlantic City | $9,784,412 | $9,784,412 | $0 | $57,127 | $1,712,025 |
| Borgata | $53,383,688 | $52,368,615 | $1,015,073 | $2,250,439 | $9,388,289 |
| Caesars Atlantic City | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Golden Nugget Atlantic City | $65,230,151 | $65,230,151 | $0 | $8,044,979 | $11,445,043 |
| Hard Rock Atlantic City | $11,427,650 | $11,427,650 | $0 | $0 | $1,999,838 |
| Harrah's Atlantic City | $1,377,376 | $1,377,376 | $0 | $0 | $241,041 |
| Ocean | $5,800,408 | $5,800,408 | $0 | $51,255 | $1,015,099 |
| Resorts Atlantic City | $49,062,124 | $48,463,003 | $599,121 | $5,910,693 | $8,529,447 |
| Tropicana Atlantic City | $17,955,923 | $17,223,265 | $732,658 | $0 | $3,134,362 |
| Total | $214,021,732 | $211,674,880 | $2,346,852 | $16,314,493 | $37,465,142 |
Overall, November was a great month for the gambling industry in New Jersey. Time will show whether October or November of 2024 were more of outliers in terms of whether online casinos or Atlantic City accounts for the largest portion of gambling revenue in the state.
