New Jersey: Record igaming revenue drives growth in August

Total revenue for August reached $555.1m (£420.0m/€498.7m). This is ahead of $531.6m in New Jersey last August, and also 1.3% more than $547.8m in July this year.

Without doubt, the stand-out figure for New Jersey in August was igaming revenue. Here, revenue jumped 27.8% year-on-year to $198.4m – a new monthly record for the state.

This includes $196.0m in internet slots revenue, an increase of 28.2%. On the other hand, online peer-to-peer remained level at $2.4m for the month.

Golden Nugget was again the leading master licensee in the igaming market. Skins operating via its licence, which in addition to Golden Nugget are FanDuel and generated $55.0m in revenue

However, as was the case in July, DraftKings was the leading igaming operator. It posted $43.2m in online casino revenue, ahead of FanDuel on $41.3m. Another brand of note was Fanatics, which hit a record high of $2.6m in revenue.

Not so good news for sports betting

Turning now to sports betting – the only sector of the market to see revenue fall in August. In total, revenue amounted to $62.7m, some 34.7% lower than the previous year.

Player spending on sports betting topped $698.8m, down 3.7% from last year. Of this total, $666.3m was bet online and $32.5m at retail sportsbooks across the state.

This equates a total market hold of 9.0% for the month, well below July’s 12.3%.

As to who led the market, Meadowlands led the master licensees with $25.0m in revenue. The racecourse is partnered with FanDuel.

In terms of actual operators, FanDuel was once again the frontrunner, posting $24.2m for August. DraftKings placed second on $15.5m, with BetMGM a distant third at $4.5m. 

What happened elsewhere in New Jersey?

Land-based casinos remain the primary source of gambling revenue in New Jersey. The $294.0m generated in August is 4.9% higher than last year. 

Slot machine revenue climbed 5.3% to $221.6m and table games’ revenue increased 3.8% to $72.4m.

Borgata is still New Jersey’s leading land-based casino with $74.2m in revenue in August. Its nearest challenger was Hard Rock on $55.4m for the month.

New Jersey on track for record year

Looking at the state’s year-to-date figures, total market revenue for the eight months to the end of August was $4.16bn. This is 10.5% ahead of the same point last year.

Online gaming revenue for this period is 22.7% higher at $1.52bn, driven by a 23.2% rise in slots revenue. Poker, on the other hand, declined 3.5%.

Sports betting revenue for that period jumped 19.7% to $715.8m, despite August’s decline. However, land-based casinos revenue was down 0.2% to $1.92bn following falls across both slot machines and table games.