In the transformative landscape of digital delights, the Garden State has heralded a momentous victory in the ever-expanding domain of online gaming. New Jersey’s iGaming sector, in a dazzling display of virtual acumen, has broken through the proverbial glass ceiling as September saw its revenue climb to a striking pinnacle. For the first time in its illustrious history, the cyberspace casinos, with their hypnotic reels and visionary table games, enchanted players to the tune of $208.1 million, setting a record that left industry onlookers spellbound.
Weaving a narrative of success, the figments of electronic slot machines and the dance of digitalized card decks conjured a grand total of $205.9 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the ninth month of the year. Adding to this digital alchemy, the realm of online poker stretched its reach further, raking in an additional $2.2 million. This bounty from the binary realm marked a staggering 27% year-on-year increase, a clear testament to the digital gold rush that has gamblers embracing the intangible with open arms.
Though six states across the nation have opened the doors to this modern-day goldmine, only Michigan has ever come close to New Jersey’s newfound zenith, having once ammassed a monthly haul slightly over $200 million. March 2024 saw Michigan’s digital and tribal gaming operations gather $215.5 million, an impressive feat, but one that New Jersey now looks to steadily outpace.
James Plousis, the chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, in remarks woven with optimism and pride, conveyed to Casino.org that “the ongoing success of internet gaming helped push Atlantic City’s total gaming revenue to its highest figure for the month of September in over a decade.”
The fabric of New Jersey’s gaming revenue is threaded with more than just the clicks and codes of online gaming; sports betting, both through mobile avenues and brick-and-mortar establishments, has contributed a healthy $119.6 million – up by 8%. Soaring as a collective force, the state’s overall gaming revenue in September reached an impressive $558.28 million, a 7.1% increase from the previous year, marking an additional $36.8 million in gains.
However, this digital upsurge was not mirrored on the famed boardwalk of Atlantic City itself. Here, the traditional bastion of casinos witnessed a reversal of fortune. Following an August that bore fruitful gains, September was less generous. The Division of Gaming Enforcement’s ledger showed a 6.5% decline from the same month in the previous year, with slot machines facing a 5% downturn and table games dropping over 10% in hold, culminating in a GGR of roughly $230.6 million.
Plousis attributed the retreating tide in Atlantic City’s fortunes to a less favorable calendar, one scarce in the bustling activity of Fridays and Saturdays, coupled with a run of good luck for those daring few who took to the tables, resulting in an atypical dip for September.
Nevertheless, the chief regulator of the nation’s second-most prosperous gaming state maintained optimism in his summary. “Year-to-date casino win was down slightly compared to last year, but it was still the second-best September result seen in 11 years,” he reflected. “Taking these aspects into account, business in Atlantic City remained stable through the first nine months of the year.”
Despite this sanguine perspective, Atlantic City’s casino leaders hold that not all revenue is created equal. They argue that the buoyancy of iGaming and online sports betting, with profits often channeled to third-party operators like DraftKings and FanDuel, doesn’t paint a full picture of the physical resort’s wellbeing. The on-the-ground reality is more starkly conveyed by in-person casino revenue, which is down nearly 1% to $2.15 billion for the year.
This downturn has seen five of the nine casinos—Bally’s, Caesars, Harrah’s, Resorts, and Tropicana—witness a dip in earnings when compared to the previous year. Borgata and Ocean have just managed to keep their heads above water with a marginal rise of under 1%, while the Golden Nugget shone a little brighter with a 2.6% increase. Hard Rock, however, positioned on the iconic Boardwalk, has struck a chord with the clientele, their gaming revenue vaulting by 8.3% year-over-year through September, a sign of shifting sands in the landscape of casino dominance.
In this era of digital dominance, the tale of New Jersey’s iGaming ascent is far from its final chapter. With each brush stroke on the canvas of online gaming, the state paints a future brimming with unexplored potential, poised to inspire and captivate the modern gambler’s heart.
