The continued hot performance of US online casino sites saw New Jersey exceed $200 million in monthly gross gaming revenue for the first time in September, while Michigan surpassed that mark for the second time. With its larger population, Pennsylvania has been above $200 million in all but two months this year.
These states are significantly larger than the others with online casinos and have been around longer than most. The “Big Three,” therefore, account for the lion’s share of national total revenue—nearly 90% currently and even more historically.
Their health is representative of the overall industry, so seeing all three over $200 million in the same month is an important milestone. Other states contributed over $73 million in September to create a national revenue of $712 million.
That brings the year-to-date total above $6 billion, a milestone it first hit last year but only in the final month. Growth has accelerated this year, and the total market beats PlayUSA’s projection by nearly 6%.
Having surpassed $6 billion through three quarters, US iGaming revenue is all but guaranteed to hit $8 billion by the end of the year.
The Big Three’s road to $200 million in online casino revenue
What’s most remarkable about the Big Three is the degree to which their revenue figures are similar despite important differences in population, market maturity, number of brands, and regulatory structure.
New Jersey is the longest-running of the three, having launched in 2013, narrowly losing out to Delaware for being the first US online casino market. That, and its business-friendly tax rate of 15%, have helped to offset its somewhat smaller population of 9.3 million.
As a result, it was nearly the first to hit $100 million. Pennsylvania, which had been trailing, got there a month earlier thanks to the highly successful launch of BetMGM Casino in December 2020.
Pennsylvania is the opposite. It has the biggest population at 13 million, but its early growth was dampened by an exorbitant 54% tax on slots revenue and a rollout plagued by regulatory delays.
Over time, its population won out over the other factors and it has begun to pull away. It now generates roughly 10% more revenue than the other two and was the first to $200 million, exactly three years after it passed the $100 million milestone.
Michigan is in the middle in terms of population and tax rate. It also has fewer brands due to a limit of one skin per retail casino license, and was the last to launch, in January 2021. Nonetheless, its regulatory structure has proven efficient and it got up to speed extremely quickly after launching.
New Jersey took eight years to reach $100 million, and Pennsylvania took 18 months. Michigan, however, took only nine months to reach that point and just over two years to reach $200 million, while the other two states each took at least three.
Online gambling revenue highlights for September 2024
Pennsylvania
- PA online casinos and poker rooms won $227.4 million in September 2024, up 21.4% year-on-year. That’s a significant slowdown from 30.9% in August, but still faster than expected.
- The daily average revenue was $7.6 million, up 4.5% to set a new national record. The previous highest was $7.5 million this March.
- Although Pennsylvania has been performing far ahead of projections since July, the margin was cut in half in September. It beat the PlayUSA forecast by 5.4% for the month, compared to double-digit margins in July and August.
- bet365 Casino has continued rapid growth. With a 2.1% market share in September, it had more gross revenue than Mohegan Sun, Bally’s, PokerStars, or Wind Creek. However, it has been spending heavily on promotions to achieve that growth, and its promotionally-adjusted slots revenue was negative.
- Most other small operators saw revenue decline during the month, while the bigger, more sports-oriented sites did well. FanDuel was up 7.2% in September, while the Rivers license (which includes Borgata as well as BetRivers) gained 6.4%.
New Jersey
- New Jersey online casino and poker sites earned $208.1 million in gross revenue in September, finally crossing that $200 million line after coming up just short in March. The annual growth rate was 27.1%, similar to but still a little behind February and August, the two fastest months in recent history at nearly 28%.
- Daily average revenue for New Jersey climbed to $6.9 million, up 8.4%.
- New Jersey beat the forecast by 13.3% in August and maintained that performance through a second month with a margin of 13.2% in September. Year-to-date it has seen $1.73 billion in revenue, 7.9% more than projected, and may come close to $2.4 billion by the end of the year.
- FanDuel Casino extended its hot performance to a second month, gaining almost another full percentage point of market share. As a single brand, it’s now close to taking the market lead, at 21.8% to DraftKings’ 22.0%. Including co-owned secondary brands, however, it is in third behind both DraftKings and BetMGM.
- Caesars Palace moved in the opposite direction, dropping more than one percentage point from a 7.1% market share to 6.0%, roughly where it was in June.
Michigan
- Michigan’s seasonal upswing has begun in earnest, with revenue rising to $202.6 million in September. Annual growth slowed from 29.2% to 21.7%, but that’s likely only temporary. Last year’s fall bounce was concentrated entirely in September, while this year’s looks smoother.
- Daily average revenue for Michigan online casinos rose to $6.9 million, up 8.4% and staying in virtual lockstep with New Jersey.
- Michigan has been well ahead of the PlayUSA forecast almost every month this year. In September, it beat the projection by 8.9%, a slightly lower margin than what was recorded for US iGaming revenue in August 2024.
- Although trailing New Jersey slightly in monthly totals, Michigan still maintains a narrow lead year-to-date at $1.75 billion, 6.7% ahead of the projection. Like New Jersey, its full-year total will likely be near $2.4 billion.
- Golden Nugget Michigan bounced back nicely in September, following a slow period. Its daily average revenue jumped 57%, bringing its market share back up to 4.6%. Interestingly, its owner, DraftKings flagship site, also gained, unlike market share swings earlier in the year when the two tended to move in opposite directions.
Connecticut
- Connecticut online casinos won $43.6 million in September, the only state to see a drop in the monthly total. That annual growth rate reflected the revenue drop, plunging to 15.9%, the slowest in state history. In fact, the rate has never before been less than 20% and only once below 30%.
- However, September is a shorter month than August. Despite a decrease in the total, daily average revenue still rose 1.0% to just under $1.5 million.
- Connecticut is the only state whose growth in 2024 hasn’t exceeded expectations. Despite narrowly beating the forecast in July and August, it missed by 10.3% in September and trails by 2.2% year-to-date. Even so, it should easily exceed $500 million in full-year revenue for the first time.
- DraftKings Casino once again sees its market share dropping toward parity with the FanDuel-powered Mohegan Sun, losing more than two percentage points to fall to 52.6% in September. At the same time, it ramped up promotional spending by 22.0%, while Mohegan countered with a 25.6% increase. Traditionally, DraftKings was the bigger spender of the two, but Mohegan has been matching it roughly dollar-for-dollar since November 2023, which equates to a larger percentage of its gross revenue.
West Virginia
- The West Virginia online casino market produced $21.2 million in gross revenue in September, its third consecutive month over $20 million. Its annual growth rate dropped ten percentage points to 66.5%, which is still much faster than any other state except Delaware.
- Daily average revenue in the Mountain State rose 7.0% to $705,585. That’s a lot slower than September has traditionally been, so it may be an indication that the market is starting to trend back to normal after a very hot second quarter.
- The market share race between the Greenbrier (FanDuel, BetMGM & Golden Nugget) and Charles Town (DraftKings, Fanatics) may have been decided, at least for now. As recently as July, the two were deadlocked at 38.5% apiece, but Greenbrier pulled ahead in August and extended its lead considerably in September. It now holds 44.8% of the market, while Charles Town has slipped to 35.3%.
Delaware
- Delaware’s online casinos brought in just over $5.8 million in September, the smallest month-to-month increase since BetRivers took over as the monopoly operator.
- Daily average revenue was $193,948, up 4.5% from June. The annual growth rate compared to the old 888-powered site is still massive, at 424.7%.
- Since switching to BetRivers, table games have contributed more to Delaware’s online casino revenue than in other states. However, slots came back in September, with their share rising to 70.7%, the highest since April.
Rhode Island
- Rhode Island has not yet reported September revenue, but it should be somewhere north of $3 million based on the trend of the last few months.
US online gambling revenue summary table
State | GGR – September 2024 | Monthly Change | Annual Change | Month vs. Forecast | Full Year Total | Year vs. Forecast |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pennsylvania | $227,421,487 | +4.5% | +21.4% | +5.4% | $1,929,781,191 | +3.1% |
New Jersey | $208,117,642 | +8.4% | +27.1% | +13.2% | $1,728,192,693 | +7.9% |
Michigan | $202,591,669 | +6.4% | +21.7% | +8.9% | $1,750,495,878 | +6.7% |
Connecticut | $43,578,531 | +1.0% | +15.9% | -10.3% | $387,056,215 | -2.2% |
West Virginia | $21,167,542 | +7.0% | +66.5% | +30.2% | $170,915,098 | +17.3% |
Delaware | $5,818,425 | +4.5% | +424.7% | +287.9% | $42,035,296 | +211.4% |
Rhode Island | $3,200,000 (Est.) | TBD | N/A | TBD | $16,650,000 (Est.) | TBD |
US Total | $711,895,296 | +6.0% | +25.1% | +8.3% | $6,025,125,680 | +5.7% |
Notes on the gaming data
Raw data for this article comes from reports issued by the state regulators:
- New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
- Michigan Gaming Control Board
- West Virginia Lottery
- Delaware Lottery
- Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection
The 2024 online gambling revenue projections are original calculations performed by Alex Weldon as a collaboration between Bonus.com and PlayUSA. Please cite PlayUSA and Alex Weldon if reporting projected numbers or market performance compared to the projections.
Monthly growth figures are adjusted for the number of days in the month. That is, they represent the change in daily average revenue, not full-month gross revenue.
West Virginia reports revenue weekly, not monthly. Its monthly totals are an estimate, assuming that revenue for partial weeks is distributed evenly between the seven days.
Pennsylvania only reports adjusted revenue (gross revenue, less promotional spending). Gross slots revenue is calculated by subtracting payouts from wagers, but no such data is available for table games and poker. Therefore, actual gross revenue is probably somewhat higher than what we report.