New Jersey’s legal online casinos and poker sites generated $25.6 million in revenues this March, closing the first quarter of the year with record growth. This is a 17.6 per cent year-over-year total increase in earnings for the five licensees in the state. In fact, the industry has never posted revenues over $22 million before, which makes March incredibly profitable for the sector.
These are the findings from the latest PlayNJ report released Thursday, April 12. Analysts from the independent website looked at the revenues posted by the several licensees that are allowed to operate Internet casinos or poker sites in the State of New Jersey. They also compared the new data with figures from the previous months and years, concluding that the iGaming sector is experiencing a record-breaking growth since its first days five years ago. It generated $25.6 million in gross revenue in March, up 16.3 per cent from February’s $21.99 million. Compared to March 2017, revenue was up nearly $4 million from the earnings of $21.7 million. Moreover, Q1 of 2018 represents the highest-grossing quarter since the legalization of online gambling in 2013.
Some industry experts believe that the difference in revenues between March and the previous month are a result of the fewer days in February. It becomes clear, however, that the online industry saw a genuine growth considering the daily revenues statistics. Online casinos and poker sites won $825,168 per day in the 31 days of March, up from $785,433 per day in February. If the trend continues, New Jersey is expected to end the year with an impressive revenue of $278.1 million which would bring the lifetime online gambling revenue in the state to $1 billion. Another important fact in the report is that in March, gambling sites paid $4.5 million in taxes to the state.
Top Performers
Interestingly, online casinos generated $23.6 million in March, while the Internet poker segment was far from its most glorious days, earning only $1.97 million. March was the best month for online poker since August, however. Compared to the same period in 2017, the segment saw a decline of over a quarter. Despite the less than impressive performance of online poker, casino sites reported an amazing success and the biggest month-to-month jump in history. To illustrate the industry’s rapid growth, analysts from PlayNJ give an interesting example – in March 2016, online casinos earned $13 million, which means that they grew $10 million in just two years.
Looking at the licence holders, the apparent leader is Golden Nugget making $8.65 million in March, up 9.8 per cent from $7.9 million in February. In other words, more than a third of all online gambling revenue in March was generated by Golden Nugget, which partnered with Betfair and SugarHouse. Moreover, it earned more than the combined revenues of its two biggest competitors, Borgata and Caesars. Borgata’s casino revenue was $3.9 million and its poker segment earned $622,000 in March, while Caesars experienced even a better month with a revenue of $4.5 million.
Tropicana comes third with $3.7 million in revenues, followed by the Resorts licensee (Resorts, Mohegan Sun, and PokerStars NJ). For its online operations, Caesars has partnered up with 888, Harrah’s, and the World Series of Poker (WSOP), while Borgata is in cooperation with PartyPoker, Pala, and MGM.
