ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey: Internet gambling in New Jersey reached a new milestone in August, bringing in over US$198 million in revenue, the highest monthly total ever recorded in the state.
Despite this achievement, most of Atlantic City’s land-based casinos earn less than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported that internet gambling revenue hit $198.4 million in August, a nearly 28 percent increase compared to the same month last year. However, Atlantic City’s casinos’ core business-money won from in-person gamblers-remains a concern. Six of the nine casinos brought in less from on-site gamblers than they did in August 2019, prior to the pandemic.
In August, the casinos earned $294 million from in-person gamblers, a 4.9 percent increase from the previous year. When factoring in money from sports betting and internet gambling, the total revenue, including that from the two horse tracks that accept sports bets, exceeded $555 million-an increase of 4.4 percent compared to the previous year.
While internet gambling and sports betting have contributed to overall revenue, these earnings must be shared with external partners, such as sportsbooks and tech platforms. Casinos still consider in-person winnings their most crucial revenue source; this segment remains below pre-pandemic levels for two-thirds of them. Only three casinos-Borgata, Hard Rock, and Ocean-surpassed their August 2019 in-person revenue.
Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, noted the growing importance of internet gambling for Atlantic City. “This important vertical for the casino industry has topped $190 million in four of the last eight months,” she said, highlighting how online gaming and sports betting now account for nearly half of Atlantic City’s gross gaming revenue.
Sports betting revenue in August was $62.7 million, down nearly 35 percent from the previous year. Bokunewicz explained that this drop was due to unusually high sports betting revenue in August 2023, double that of August 2022.
Regarding in-person revenue, Borgata led with $74.2 million, Hard Rock with $55.3 million, and Ocean with $44 million. Meanwhile, online and sports betting significantly boosted the overall revenue of several casinos, with Tropicana seeing a nearly 41 percent increase when combined with internet and sports betting revenue.
Nearly $699 million worth of sports bets were placed in New Jersey in August, though the market has shrunk slightly following Freehold Raceway’s decision to stop taking sports bets in July.