A Summary Of New Jersey Online Revenue Numbers For December 2017

January 18, 2018
A Summary Of New Jersey Online Revenue Numbers For December 2017

Contents

Last month, we mentioned that $20 million seems to be the new benchmark for online gaming operators in New Jersey, and that is still holding true. In December, and for the tenth straight month, New Jersey online overall gaming revenue brought in over $20 million coming in at $20.8 million.

It’s true, the $20.8 million is a meager increase over November’s number of $20.6 million, but when taking into consideration the extra day in December, that number actually equates to a slight decline.

December 2017 Online Gaming Revenue Summary

  • Casino: $18.8 million for the month
    (Down -3.8% month over month for a 15.6% increase year over year)
  • Poker: $1.9 million for the month
    (Up 3.6% month over month for a -7.8% decrease year over year)
  • Overall: $20.8 million for the month
    (Down -2.5% month over month for a 12.9% increase year over year)

As the New Jersey market nears the $250 million mark in yearly revenues, it’s hard to not to be impressed with the number. Just to put it in perspective, revenues have more than doubled since 2014.

While the overall gaming numbers were down month over month, they are still pretty impressive for the year.

Even so, there was a downtick in casino numbers with the year-over-year growth falling below 20%. A number that low has not been seen since March of 2016 and provides some evidence that points to a slowing trend. Only a few more months of data will tell us for sure.

Online poker rooms are painting a different picture in December. They actually posted a small increase of 3.6% in month-over-month revenues. While seemingly good news, the reality is, poker had a weak showing in November almost ensuring a better month. Even so, revenue is still down 8% from that of December 2016.

Basically, December’s numbers are pointing to an uncertainty as to what to expect in the New Year and throughout 2018. While ending 2017 on a solid note overall, the decline in casino numbers for December and the dismal year for poker leaves a big question mark on the industry.

Online revenue detail by operator

Golden Nugget (Golden Nugget, Betfair, SugarHouse)

Golden Nugget produced $6,086,534, for a decline of -4.90% month over month and dropping their year-over-year number to 27.06%.

What’s notable is for the third straight month, Golden Nugget posted a revenue number north of $6 million. They continue to lead the industry in year-over-year revenue, but their numbers are lower than they’ve seen in a while.

Borgata (Borgata, Party, Pala, MGM)

Borgata solidly sits in the number two position amongst New Jersey operators with a yearly revenue number of 20% higher than the year before. It is the only other operator, besides Golden Nugget to post a double-digit year-over-year revenue number.

While poker has hurt the numbers of most operators, poker revenue for Borgata are nearly flat for 2017. Little or no growth is not something a business loves to celebrate, but when your competitors see declines in revenue, keeping your numbers in positive territory, is an accomplishment.

Borgata’s revenue numbers:

  • Casino: $3,675,415 million for the month
    (Down -3.64% month over month for a 19.51% increase year over year)
  • Poker: $630,823 for the month
    (Up 5.90% month over month for a 0.87% increase year over year)
  • Overall: $4,306,238 million for the month
    (Down -2.35% month over month for a 16.36% increase year over year)

Resorts AC (Resorts, Mohegan Sun, PokerStars NJ)

Last month, Resorts had the highest percentage increase in the casino and this month, they have the most substantial decline. Overall, this puts Resorts in the last place compared to their competitors with total revenue of $3.2 million.

Whereas, last month their casino revenues saved them, this month it is their poker revenues that are helping out the bottom line posting the largest month-over-month (8.32%) increase of all the poker rooms.

With the favorite Winter Series poker tournament scheduled for January, and the flurry of excitement around Platinum Passes for the PokerStars Poker Players Championship, there is a potential growth trend in the making. It’s still early to tell, but there is no doubt the players are hoping for it.

Resorts’ revenue numbers:

  • Casino: $2,424,802 million for the month
    (Down -17.21% month over month for a 3.95% increase year over year)
  • Poker: $776,201 for the month
    (Up 8.32% month over month for a -4.04% decrease year over year)
  • Overall: $3,201,003 million for the month
    (Down -12.19% month over month for a 1.89% increase year over year)

Caesars (888, Caesars, Harrah’s, WSOP)

Caesars is the only casino that saw decent growth in their month-over-month numbers. Of course, it’s the only poker room of the bunch to see a decline.

A 20% decline in year-over-year revenues explains its modest 3.8% overall yearly revenue increase. They aren’t in the last place in total revenues for the year (Resorts holds that honor), but it has not gone unnoticed how their online poker rooms are holding them back.

Caesar’s revenue numbers:

  • Casino: $3,270,633 million for the month
    (Up 12.35% month over month for a 3.21% increase year over year)
  • Poker: $530,037 for the month
    (Down -4.99% month over month for a -20.57% decrease year over year)
  • Overall: $3,800,670 million for the month
    (Up 9.56% month over month for a 3.77% increase year over year)

Tropicana (Tropicana, Virgin)

Tropicana posted the best number percentage wise of those casinos with declining numbers. Its monthly revenue of $3,363,200 is a decrease of only -0.27% compared to December’s revenue numbers. And while their 8.95% yearly revenue increase is substantial, it is sitting in a distant fourth place compared to the other casinos.

Final Thoughts

Online poker, while having a positive month to close out the year, has to hope that some of the changes predicted for 2018 come to fruition. Combining player pools and the introduction of more legislation to legalize online poker are all hopeful signs that the negative poker revenue numbers may see a reversal in the coming year.

One has to wonder how long the casinos can continue to cover the losses of the poker rooms. For the operators that have both online casinos and poker rooms, it is the one that can figure out how to post a profit every month in both that will win the game.

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