New Jersey’s regulated online gambling market fell just shy of tying its all-time high revenue in the month of November.
Figures released Wednesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) show state-licensed online gambling sites generating revenue of just under $17.2m in November, 30% higher than the same month last year and just $200k below the state’s revenue record set this July.
The casino vertical had another stellar month, rising 34% year-on-year to $15.1m while poker enjoyed a more modest but still respectable 6.4% bump to $2.1m. For the year-to-date, overall online revenue is up 32.3% to $178.3m.
On an individual operator level, November’s overall revenue leader was the Borgata-linked sites, albeit by the smallest margin possible. The Borgata sites generated $3.809m – $3.2m from casino, $622k from poker – a mere $7k more than the Golden Nugget’s casino-only site, which had topped the state’s revenue ranks for the past two months.
Caesars Interactive Entertainment ranked third with $3.36m ($2.7m from casino, $632k from poker). Resorts Digital Gaming, whose operations include Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars brand, earned $3.2m ($2.4m casino, $829k poker), while the Tropicana’s casino-only site ranked last with just under $3m.
STATE POLS LUKEWARM ON RACETRACK IGAMING PROPOSAL
New Jersey requires its licensed online gambling operators to partner with Atlantic City casinos and two members of the state Assembly have proposed amending this relationship by allowing state racetracks to open “internet gaming cafés.”
Bill A4255 would allow Monmouth Park, the Meadowlands Racetrack and the Freehold Raceway to lease floor space to AC casinos in which visitors could gamble online. The tracks are all for the concept but critics point out that online gambling is already available via mobile devices throughout the state, leading to suspicions that the proposal is a stealth attempt at creating ‘racinos,’ aka tracks with casino gambling offshoots that are all the rage across the border in New York.
Critics of the plan also pointed out that it was only last month that state voters rejected a ballot referendum on adding casino gambling in the northern part of the state, including at the Meadowlands. Proponents argue that this is a different plan that wouldn’t require amending the state constitution, as the North Jersey plan required.
