NJ Online Gambling Flies High Again With Third Consecutive $20 Million Month
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May marked the third straight month that the industry eclipsed the once elusive $20 million barrier. In total, the state’s five licensees generated a combined $21.1 million.
The only time that it beat that figure was in March, when it took in just under $21.8 million.
Top-line New Jersey online casino figures for May
Online casino continued to dictate the narrative in New Jersey, accounting for $19 million of total industry revenue.
This figure represents a scant 0.5 percent uptick over April, and a 2.7 percent decline when taking May’s extra day into account. That being said, May had just eight weekend days — which is the minimum for a month — as opposed to 10 for April.
Compared to last May, online casino revenue was up a staggering 35.6 percent. The only time in 2017 that the year-over-year growth margin was more impressive was in March, when revenue was up 49.4 percent.
However, online casino didn’t take up quite as much market share as it did in April, when it represented 90.5 percent of industry revenue. Last month, that figure slipped a hair to 89.9 percent.
Still that’s quite a difference from last May, when the NJ online poker industry was still flying high from the launch of PokerStars. A year ago, online poker made up 15.5 percent of total revenue.
Tropicana crosses a new threshold
For the better part of two years, Tropicana’s monthly revenue was stuck in the $3 million range. That all changed beginning in March, when the pair of Tropicana Casino and Virgin Casino reaped $3.86 million.
And now, Tropicana has finally crossed the $4 million mark. In May, the operator generated $4,009,746, good for second place behind Golden Nugget, and just better than Resorts — which has the added advantage of supporting both online casino and poker sites.
Tropicana now accounts for a 19 percent market share, up from 17.4 percent six months ago.
A breakdown of online casino revenue by operator as follows:
- Borgata: $2,883,485
- Caesars: $3,097,413
- Golden Nugget: $5,915,167
- Resorts: $3,045,552
- Tropicana: $4,009,746
Worth noting here is that Borgata, which was the market share leader just one year ago, has slipped into last place. It was the Borgata’s worst month since September 2016.
In fairness, the Borgata’s tepid performance may have been a byproduct of a major jackpot being hit. However, at last check, Borgata Casino’s Big Series progressive (which stands at nearly $2.1 million) has yet to be hit.
Other highlights:
- Caesars had its second best month ever. It was only the second time that it cracked the $3 million mark.
- Golden Nugget also had its second-best month, coming up just $261,000 short of breaking the record for most monthly revenue by an individual operator. The operator likely benefited from the launch of Live Dealer games on Betfair Casino.
- Resorts completes the “second best” trifecta. The only other time the operator’s online casino vertical surpassed $3 million was in March.
NJSCOOP saves online poker…for now
As was the case last October, a major tournament series on PokerStars spared NJ online poker from a down month.
The NJSCOOP was an overwhelming success for Stars, producing few overlays and a plethora of tournaments that smashed their guarantees. Thanks to the series, PokerStars generated $962,914 in May, up 21.3 percent over April, and representing a whopping 45.4 percent market share.
In total, NJ online poker contributed $2,119,885 in gross gaming revenue — still its second lowest tally of 2017, but marking a 7.7 percent uptick over April.
Year-over-year revenue was down 17.5 percent, but that’s primarily because PokerStars novelty was still a thing last May.
Full breakdown as follows:
- Borgata / PartyPoker NJ: $613,039
- WSOP NJ / 888 NJ: $543,932
- PokerStars: $962,914
For the WSOP/888 network, it was its worst full month ever, which is initially curious considering that it recently launched its own lottery sit & go variant, BLAST.
However, upon closer examination it appears that a wayward software update is the culprit behind the network’s recent struggles. Apparently some players are having extreme difficulty logging in. Crashes are also prevalent.
It also probably didn’t help that WSOP.com dedicated a huge chunk of its resources to WSOP NV, in anticipation of the live World Series of Poker in Las Vegas — which in fairness, was probably the right way to go.
Another nine-figure milestone for NJ online gambling
New Jersey online gambling is taxed at a total of 17.5 percent, with 15 percent going to state coffers and 2.5 percent used to pare down Atlantic City‘s massive debt.
As of May, the industry has contributed more than $100 million ($101.2 to be more precise) in tax revenue.
To my knowledge, there isn’t another recent form of new tax revenue that has generated nine-figures for the state in such a short amount of time without placing the burden on the taxpayers of the Garden State.