Steady Growth Continues for New Jersey Online Gambling

Posted on: April 16, 2014, 05:30h. 

Last updated on: April 15, 2014, 08:41h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

Atlantic City casinos aren’t exactly breaking the bank yet when it comes to regulated online gambling in New Jersey. But every month has been an improvement over the one before it, and March once again saw steady and solid growth for the state’s burgeoning industry.

In March, New Jersey’s regulated online gambling sites generated a total of nearly $11.9 million in revenue. That’s about $1.6 million more than the Internet casinos and poker rooms took in during February, good for a 15 percent increase month-over-month.

Poker Revenues Flat

Most of that growth came from casino games rather than online poker. Casino sites brought in nearly $8.7 million, compared to just $7.2 million in the previous month. In comparison, poker was basically flat, bringing in just over $3.2 million compared to $3.1 million in February. When accounting for the fact that March was a longer month, the per-day revenue actually dropped slightly for the poker sites.

Overall, the Borgata remains the market leader. Their sites – operated with the help of partner bwin.party – brought in just under $4.4 million in revenue, up 8 percent from February. That gave them about 37 percent of the total market, and made them the number one site both in terms of poker (51 percent) and other casino games (32 percent).

“We continue to see solid growth in online casino gaming, and are working to further strengthen our poker business,” said Keith Smith, chief executive at Boyd Gaming (which owns 50 percent of the Borgata). “Expanding payment processing options for our customers is one of our highest priorities, and we are making good progress in this regard.”

Close behind them is Caesars Interactive. They made $3.7 million in March, up 11 percent over their February haul. They account for about $2.25 million of the casino games market, as well as $1.46 million in poker revenues – about 46 percent of that market.

Obviously, that doesn’t leave very much market share for the other Atlantic City competitors with poker offerings. Between Caesars and Borgata, the two companies control about 97 percent of the New Jersey regulated online poker marketplace, with Trump Taj Mahal’s $100,289 in revenue making up most of the final three percent. The Trump Plaza also reported poker revenue, but it’s more of an amusing footnote than anything else: the casino took in a paltry $25 from its poker room last month.

Strong Growth in Casino Games

But while the poker market may be consolidating around the two largest companies, the Internet casino battle seems to be getting more competitive.

All six companies that reported online gambling revenue saw at least some growth this month, but a couple of numbers stand out from the pack. The Golden Nugget saw their revenues rise 47 percent to $677,746, the largest percentage increase of any firm. The Tropicana was also up 41 percent to nearly $1.9 million. Both of these numbers came entirely from casino games, as neither company runs a poker site in New Jersey.

Overall, New Jersey’s Internet gambling sites brought in $31.6 million in revenue over the first quarter of 2014. Online poker accounted for 31 percent of all revenues.