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The 2024 calendar year looks like it will be the best for New Jersey online casinos and by a large margin. With half of the year in the books, licensee win has surpassed $1 billion, up more than a fifth from 2023’s total at the same point in that year.
June 2024 also marked a new starting point for DraftKings Casino in New Jersey. While it’s fair to ask whether DraftKings is solidified as the market share leader in terms of win, the real question is whether that conversation matters.
New Jersey online casinos post fourth-best month ever
According to a news release from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), online casinos in New Jersey won more than $186.8 million from players during the 30 days of June 2024. That represents a 25.2% increase from June 2023 online casino win numbers.
The running total for the 2024 calendar year is now more than $1.1 billion, crossing that threshold a month ahead of 2023’s pace. Technically, that sum is up 21.4% over the accumulation of January-June 2023 in New Jersey.
June 2024’s $186.8 million also makes it the fourth-best month for online casino win in New Jersey ever. To assert how remarkable these numbers are in context, each of New Jersey’s four strongest months in terms of online casino win have come in the past four months.
While the pot is healthy, it’s far from an equal split for everyone involved.
How individual operators fared in June 2024
Deeper numbers from the NJDGE break down that $186.8 million total based on individual win totals for licensees and the various online casino brands that operate under those licenses. For June, there were 30 individual online casino apps reporting win in New Jersey.
DraftKings Casino claimed the biggest share of the market, representing more than 21.9% of the total for the month with more than $41 million in win. Since the NJDGE started reporting figures for individual online casino brands in March 2024, DraftKings Casino has never fallen below second place in terms of its market share.
June 2024 was significant for DraftKings as a larger company in New Jersey for a related reason.
DraftKings increases strength in New Jersey
June represented the first month that DraftKings had three horses in the New Jersey online casino market share race. DraftKings completed its acquisition of Jackpocket in late May.
Combined with Golden Nugget online casino and DraftKings Casino, the company’s footprint in New Jersey is as robust as any other company’s when it comes to online gaming. MGM Resorts’ interest in both BetMGM Casino and Borgata Casino, as well as a pending takeover of Tipico’s US operations, make it a strong competitor in that regard.
So while DraftKings is winning this horse race based on a small data set, the race is mostly for spectator enjoyment and serves as marketing fodder. Market share in terms of win as an indicator of an online gambling company’s health and as a determining factor for the future is incomplete at best.
Win market share in the proper context
When discussing the relevance of online casino win for a gambling company, the proper context is to think of it as being identical to raw sales. Such numbers provide some insight but don’t come close to telling the whole story.
Simple business calculations require comparing raw sales to a company’s expenses to get a vague idea of whether the enterprise is turning a profit. Put another way, having a big share of the online casino win in New Jersey is no guarantee that the brands are making money in New Jersey. Conversely, having a smaller share does not necessarily mean that a company is losing money.
One argument is that a company’s footprint in a market could be more vital to its ability to operate sustainably than its monthly win totals or where those sit with respect to other brands on a month-to-month basis. Size does matter, just not in that way.
Survivors of market consolidation will be set up nicely in New Jersey
The online gambling industry in the United States is in a period of consolidation. Besides the aforementioned acquisitions, rumors of Rush Street Interactive shopping itself and Flutter Entertainment eyeing PENN Interactive abound.
While New Jersey online casino players may still have dozens of apps to choose from, those brands could all become the property of four or five companies within the next five years. While there are serious risks inherent in making such acquisitions, the survivors that emerge stand to also glean some tremendous benefits.
For example, operating multiple brands enables a company to weather a downturn in one of the brands. Using DraftKings as an example, if Jackpocket were to suffer some reputation damage, Golden Nugget and its own casino product would still provide win regardless.
Although online casino win continues to escalate in New Jersey, 20% growth is not sustainable. New Jersey online casino win should be sufficient to make a handful of companies profitable even at its ceiling, though.
The questions are which companies those will be and what level of profitability they are willing to accept.
New Jersey’s casino industry offers more than just impressive revenue figures. Discover the top attractions available in our Top 10 Amenities at NJ Casinos.
