With new casinos in the mix, along with sports betting, overall gaming revenues in New Jersey were boosted considerably in August. State gambling figures reveal an increase of 22.5%, compared with August 2017.
Last month, total gambling revenues in New Jersey climbed above $300m (€256m), a significant increase on the $244.8m (€209.6m) earned in the same month last year. The totals include online gaming, sports betting and land-based gaming revenues.
Online and land-based gaming
August’s overall gaming totals increased as a result of several factors, including new gaming venues and online gaming. The Ocean Resort Casino and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City opened in June this year, so their August revenues helped to increase the overall numbers. Last month, the two generated just over $51m (€43.6m) combined. Hard Rock contributed $31.25m (€26.7m) of that total while Ocean Resort earned $20.5m (€17.5m).
Online gambling was slightly down compared with July, coming in at $24.8m (€21.2m) in August. However, the earnings were 16.6% higher than August 2017. Year to date, online gambling is steadily approaching the $200m (€171m) mark, having already generated $190m (€162.7m).
The Golden Nugget, the top operator when it comes to online gaming in the state, saw a huge increase in earnings in the 12 months to August 2018. The property was up 49.5%, with just over $8.1m (€6.9m) earned for the month.
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement director, David Rebuck, said: “With the new casinos that opened in June and the addition of sports wagering options, including online alternatives, the gaming industry has experienced growth rates in July and August that have not been achieved in years. It is an exciting time for Atlantic City and we look forward to continued revenue growth going forward.”
Sports betting reaches $95m
August was also lucrative for the sports betting industry, with $95.6m (€81.8m) in wagers placed. This amount is more than double that wagered in July. The new industry is booming, as more land-based venues begin to offer services, as well as online and mobile sectors coming in to play.
According to last month’s figures, close to $74m (€63.3m) of the wagers placed were completed at onsite betting windows. Online and mobile app wagers came in at $21.7m (€18.5m).
It is expected that these numbers will only continue to grow, particularly the online wagers, as more operators begin to offer online betting services.
For sports betting revenues, the Meadowlands Racetrack came out on top in August, earning more than $3m (€2.5m) for the month. Next was Resorts Digital, which generated $2.97m (€2.54m). These two operators dominate the sports betting sector.
Earnings from here on out are much lower. Monmouth Park racetrack brought in close to $900,000 (€770,821) in sports betting revenues, while the Borgata Casino was not far behind with $855,000 (€732,280).
Ocean Resort Casino earned just over $500,000 (€428,234) while Harrah’s closed in on the $300,000 (€256,944) mark. Bally’s was not far behind with $270,000 (€231,250) and the Golden Nugget earned $215,000 (€184,143). Resorts Casino came in last with a little over $98,000 (€83,918).
So far in 2018, sports betting operators have won just over $16m (€13.7m) on sports wagers. A portion of that number was taken in for wagers on games that have not played out yet, such as the Super Bowl and the World Series of Baseball.