March Monthly Totals Show iGaming Remains Supreme in New Jersey

Over the past few years, we have seen a shift in the New Jersey casino gambling market. The state offers online casinos, land-based casinos, physical sportsbooks, and online sports betting. The New Jersey online casino sector has recently risen above its land-based counterparts, earning far more each month. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement recently provided the March monthly totals, which were a bit shocking. 

The land-based market brought in only $239 million for the month, which is lower than pre-pandemic levels when considering individual casino earnings. The amount was almost lower than the March 2019 earnings. Land-based venues seem to struggle to get back above water and bring players to reach new milestones. Meanwhile, the online sector continues to hit record revenues. 

For March, the state saw a total of over $526 million from online and land-based services, both casino games and sports betting. This was an increase of around 8.1% from last year. For online casino sites, the full total came in at over $197 million. This was yet another monthly record for the industry, one that is showing no signs of slowing down. 

The total was a 19% increase from March 2023, and it beat the previous all-time monthly high of $183.3 million from January 2024. March marks the fifth time in a six-month period that the online casinos in New Jersey have hit a new record. 

So far this year, the state's total earnings are up around 22% compared to 2023's totals. The market is expected to continue growing, so it will be interesting to see how many milestones the industry hits by the end of 2024. 

A few weeks ago, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement announced that revenues would no longer be announced per license holder. Now, we will be able to see how much each individual operator earns. This is a big deal, as you had to consider which operators were under a specific license in the past. 

Now, we can truly get an idea of who the top operators are in the state. So far, it appears that DraftKings and FanDuel are in the top spots. So far this year, DraftKings has generated over $122 million, and FanDuel is not far behind with $120.9 million. 

Just over $562 million was generated overall from the online gaming market through March. If you look at DraftKings and FanDuel’s numbers, they have brought in over 40% of the total revenues! 

BetMGM Casino has produced over $64 million this year, followed by the Borgata at $52 million. Caesars is next with $34.9 million, followed by Hard Rock with $25.7 million. These providers are the only ones to surpass the $20 million mark in 2024. BetRivers and Golden Nugget are close, though, with just over $19 million each.

As online casino sites thrive, in-person casinos are trying to boost their totals. The Borgata saw a decrease of 8% from March 2023, bringing in over $56 million. Hard Rock was up 11% with $44.3 million, and Ocean was up 17.6% with $40.6 million. 

Harrah’s increased by a small 2% with $21 million, and Tropicana was up at 2.5% with $19.8 million. Caesars jumped almost 8% with $18.5 million in earnings, while Golden Nugget jumped 11.4% with $13.6 million. Resorts and Ballys saw increases, too, with $13.4 million and $11.7 million in earnings. 

While the casinos are seeing an increase in earnings, the totals are far from pre-pandemic levels. Since 2019, the gaming venues have struggled to reach similar numbers. It begs the question of whether players have gotten used to logging online to play or if the visitation numbers are down and will take much longer to increase.