Shore Thing: July Another Near-$200-Million Month For Online Casino In New Jersey
Brick-and-mortar revenue in Atlantic City is slipping, however, down 6% year-over-year
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Since roughly 30 states have legalized sports betting but not online casino gaming, regulators and lawmakers in those states likely are unaware of the vast difference in consistency between tax revenue on a month-to-month basis.
Friday’s reveal of the July numbers for New Jersey — a pioneer on both of those gambling fronts — offers further illustration of the discrepancy.
The $195.4 million in online casino revenue for the state’s operators was typical, as all seven months of 2024 have produced figures between $182 million and $198 million. So state accountants basically know what they are getting each month, with the state’s 15% tax rate bringing in $29.4 million in July and $199.1 million for the year so far.
The remaining five months figure to bring in roughly $140 million more in tax revenue, given the metronome-like consistency of the numbers.
But sports betting — where the public’s success rate in choosing winners can vary wildly — is a different story.
The state’s sportsbooks hit the jackpot in January, with the $170.8 million in revenue more than doubling the amount reaped in January 2023. But ever since, the monthly gross revenue has ranged from a low of $60.1 million in June to $106.2 million in April.
Even setting aside January as an outlier, the range in outcomes for sportsbooks is far wider than that of its online casino operator counterparts. And with a 13% tax rate for online sports betting and 8.5% for the modest number of retail sports bets placed, the $83.1 million in 2024 tax revenue so far pales in comparison to that nearly $200 million figure for online casino gaming.
Brick-and-mortar casinos, taxed at 8% of gross gaming revenue, have put another $104.4 million into the state’s coffers.
Who’s on top?
Three gaming operators dominate the online casino business in New Jersey. Golden Nugget — with partners FanDuel and BetRivers leading the charge — “won” July with $53.5 million in revenue, followed by Resorts Digital (think DraftKings and Mohegan Sun) at $49 million, and Borgata (with BetMGM as a key partner) at $47 million. In July 2023, that pecking order was exactly reversed.
For the year so far, however, the Golden Nugget-Resorts Digital-Borgata order is in place. That’s a disappointment for Borgata, with a 3.3% increase over the first seven months of 2024 paling in comparison to Golden Nugget’s rise of 30.4% and Resorts Digital’s 21.3% improvement.
Hard Rock, meanwhile, has taken over a distant fourth place in 2024 at $73.6 million for the year so far, surpassing 2023’s No. 4 operator Bally’s ($62.2 million).
Overall, New Jersey’s online casino numbers are up a robust 22% in 2024.
Meadowlands/FanDuel reign over sports betting
On the sports betting front, the Meadowlands Racetrack — with key partner FanDuel — and Resorts Digital — again with DraftKings — accounted for $32.7 million and $26 million, respectively, of the state’s $80 million total operator revenue for July.
The Meadowlands track and its partners have been more dominant in 2024 overall, collecting the majority ($374.1 million) of the yearly state total of $653.1 million — up a robust 30% compared to this point in 2024.
The main disappointment for New Jersey’s gaming industry was on the brick-and-mortar side, where the casino operator take of $272.3 million was down just over 6% compared to July 2023. The biggest dip belonged to Harrah’s, down nearly 25% versus 12 months earlier.
As always, Borgata leads the way so far in 2024 with $427.8 million collected. The state’s newest casinos, Hard Rock and Ocean, as usual maintain spots on the podium at $316.9 and $235.7 million, respectively, for the year. But the nine Atlantic City casinos are down a combined 1% so far in 2024.
