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[toc]Online gambling pulled the New Jersey casino industry’s fat out of the fire once again last month.
According to June 2017 gaming revenue results released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement this week, land-based casino revenues in Atlantic City were relatively flat for the month. In fact, they reached just a little less than the $197.5 million figure hit in June of 2016.
However, statewide internet gaming revenues hit $20.2 million in June 2017. This represents a 23.4 percent increase from the $16.4 million posted in June 2016.
As a result, total New Jersey gaming revenues reached $217.7 million. This was a 1.8 percent increase over the $213.9 million posted in the same month last year.
Year-to-date numbers climb
In fact, internet gambling revenues have continued to help the New Jersey casino industry post impressive total revenue numbers now half way through the year.
Land-based casino year-to-date revenue numbers are up 1.5 percent through the first six months of 2017. They hit $1.169 billion through June 2017. However, online gambling revenues were up 28 percent over the same period, hitting the $121.4 million mark.
As a result, the New Jersey casino industry’s total year-to-date revenue has reached $1.291 billion through the first six months of 2017. This represents a 3.5 percent increase over the same period last year.
A decade of losses in NJ
Of course, it is worth nothing that internet gambling revenues helped turn around a decade of revenue declines in New Jersey in 2016.
Land-based casino revenues reached $2.406 billion in 2016, down slightly from the $2.414 billion posted at the end of 2015. However internet gambling revenues rose 32 percent to $196.7 million. As a result, total gambling revenues reached $2.603 billion, an increase of 1.5 percent over 2015.
The New Jersey casino industry had not posted a year-over-year revenue increase since 2006.
Golden Nugget sets the pace
All five internet gaming license holders posted increased revenues in June 2017. However, the industry-leading Golden Nugget outpaced them all, reporting $5.5 million in NJ online gaming revenues. This represented a more than 57 percent increase over the same month last year.
None of the four other online gambling licensees hit the $4 million mark. In addition to its own Golden Nugget branded online casino, the Golden Nugget hosts Betfair and SugarHouse under its license.
The lone piece of bad news coming from the online gambling industry in June was that online poker operations posted just $1,735,634 in revenue. It was the lowest monthly online poker revenue total in New Jersey history. However, June is typically a down month for New Jersey online poker operators, with the World Series of Poker taking place in Las Vegas throughout the month.
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Borgata leads on land
In terms of land-based casinos, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa continued to lead the industry with $59,835,792 posted in June 2017. This represents an almost seven percent increase over the same month last year.
Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City was the only other one of Atlantic City’s seven casino properties to post over $30 million in revenues throughout the month. Harrah’s reached $31,647,463 in revenue, a 14 percent increase over June 2016.
