Internet Gambling Hits Record Levels in New Jersey
Internet gambling in New Jersey has hit record levels, while land-based casinos in Atlantic City are struggling.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement revealed that internet gambling generated $198.4 million of revenue last month, a 28% year-on-year rise and the highest monthly total ever. While the online casino world is on a rampage, in-person gambling continues to struggle and most brick-and-mortar casinos have not recovered to pre-Covid revenues and profits.
The big question is, with the rise of online gaming and the consistent improvements in the industry, will they ever recover? Covid was one of many reasons why gamblers switched to the online experience and the casinos are just getting better. Online casinos miss out on the in-person element, but offer so much more in terms of convenience, game variety and big prizes. So, while the industry is looking at what the casinos need to do to get people back through the door, this might be the sign of a larger tipping point where online casinos take the lion’s share of the money.
Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, which studies the Atlantic City gambling market, said: “This important vertical for the casino industry has topped $190 million in four of the last eight months in a trend that is seeing off-property gaming activity, which includes online sports betting, contribute nearly half of Atlantic City operators’ total gross gaming revenue,” she said.
Now the land-based casinos are still outperforming the online betting sites, in New Jersey at least. The 9 officially licenced New Jersey casinos won $294 million from their customers in August, which was a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. When the combined might of internet betting, the casinos, two horse racing tracks and that accept bets and their online partners were taken into account, New Jersey’s entire haul for the month was $555 million.
So the industry as a whole is in rude health, but only three of the nine physical casinos have managed to beat their pre-Covid profits. Borgata, Hard Rock and Ocean have beaten their August 2019 tallies, but they’re the only ones.
The obvious conclusion is that internet gambling is closing the gap on the brick-and-mortar casinos, is growing at such a rate that it could easily eclipse the old-school casinos in the near future.
