The gambling industry in New Jersey kicked off 2024 with a record-breaking performance. In January, the operators experienced a surge in gaming activity beyond what the state had ever seen. Four significant gambling revenue records were broken. However, not all the operators enjoyed the January boom because in-person records still experienced a decline.
On February 16, 2024, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement published monthly gambling and sports betting revenue reports. The report revealed that internet gambling revenue, sports betting revenue, the total sports wagering volume, and total casino-sports betting internet revenues reached all-time highs.
The total gambling revenue soared to $559.1 million, marking a robust 28% increase from January 2023's $436.9 million. It also rose by 7.1% compared to December 2023's $522.2 million. Internet gambling reached $183 million, a nearly 20% increase from the previous year, and sports betting surged to almost $171 million, an impressive uptick of over 136%.
Analyzing New Jersey's January Gambling Revenue Achievements
In January, New Jersey's iGaming operators reported a remarkable $183.3 million combined revenue. This reflected a 1.6% increase from the previous month and an impressive 19.9% surge from the $72.3 million reported in January 2023.
The state's sports betting operators also smashed records by racking up a $1.7 billion handle in January. The former record was set in October 2021, when they got $1.3 billion in wagers. Of the entire $1.7 billion from January, $1.67 billion came through online sportsbooks, and $47.6 million came from physical retail.
With such a high handle, the revenue from sports betting also increased. The January report stated that the revenue surged to $170.7 million, a 136.1% year-on-year increase. Just like with the handle, these numbers beat the previous record of $114.8 million set in November 2021.
The profit was spread around different parts of the state, but not every betting operator experienced the increase. Meadowlands Racetrack secured $113 million on sports bets, a remarkable 137% increase from the previous year.
Monmouth Park reported nearly $2.4 million in winnings, an 8.5% uptick. However, Freehold Raceway experienced a loss of over $1 million on sports bets, contrasting with a $1.6 million win the previous year.
Decline in In-Person Casino Winnings
While these revenue streams are shared with third-party providers, including tech platforms and sportsbooks, the money is not exclusively for the casinos to retain. Casinos see their core business as the money gained from in-person gamblers.
Jane Bokunewicz, the director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute, said that the activity meant for physical casinos was likely transferred to online options in January. Bokunewicz and others analyzed the market to understand why there was a boom in online gambling activity and a decline in in-person casino winnings.
The in-person revenue has steadily declined since early 2020 when all gambling operations went down because of COVID restrictions. January was no different from all other months for this part of the industry. In-person casino winnings for the month reached $205 million, a 3.1% drop from January 2023.
Only three casinos managed to improve their revenue on a year to year scale. The Golden Nugget won $11.2 million to gain 8.3% over last year. Hard Rock took $37.3 million to go up by 3.9%, and Ocean won $33 million and went up by 2.3%.
The other six casinos in the state all experienced a decrease in revenue. Borgata raised the most, winning $57.6 million, but its revenue was still 1.2% lower than what it had in January 2023. Bally’s, Caesars, Harrah’s, Tropicana, and Resorts Casino all got below $20 million and failed to beat their January 2023 revenue.
