2022 was one of the best-performing years for online casinos in New Jersey. iGaming operators in the state reported the first $150 million monthly in December 2022. According to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement report of December, online casinos in the state produced revenue worth $151 million.
This was a growth of close to 14% compared to the same period in 2021 when the state produced $133 million. The $150 million produced in December also shattered the last all-time monthly high of $147 million that had been set in October 2022. This means that online casinos in the state, as well as their land-based partners, produced $1.66 billion last year.
This amount was an increase of close to 22% compared to the $1.37 billion that the state managed to produce a year earlier. Since 2013 when online casino games were legalized in the state, iGaming operators have generated more than $5.5 billion.
For the first time in the New Jersey gambling market’s history, several online casinos produced an excess of $40 million in the same month. These casinos including Borgata and BetMGM set the tone with $43 million in monthly revenue. Resorts Digital and its partners which include DraftKings, Resorts Online, and Barstool also recorded all-time highs of $40.4 million.
Golden Nugget, which is partner with BetRivers, FanDuel, and Golden Nugget Online also recorded an impressive revenue of $37.8 million in December 2022. Casinos operating under the Oceans and Bally’s licenses also recorded year-over-year growth in 2022. Over the last couple of years, Bally’s had been struggling to keep up with its competitors.
However, thanks to the debut of Bally’s casino in early 2022, as well as its partnership with Virgin Casino, the brand has started to see some positive results in its monthly revenue. In total, Bally’s managed to earn more than $41 million in 2022 compared to the measly $1.67 million that the brand earned in 2021. This represented an increase of more than 2,405%.
Oceans Casino was yet another struggling brand that showed momentous improvements last year. In December 2022, Oceans generated online gaming revenue of $3.52 million, which was a boost of more than 120%. Oceans is still at the bottom of the revenue table but its performance in 2022 demonstrates clear growth.
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Retail Casino revenue in December was also impressive
In December, the retail casino revenue for the month was impressive. Reports from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement confirmed that the 9 casinos in the state produced a gross gaming revenue of $215.6 million. This marked the best-performing December that brick-and-mortar casinos in the state have enjoyed in 10 years.
As a result, the GGR in 2022 totaled $2.79 billion, which was a massive increase from the $2.55 billion generated in 2021. The gaming revenue for December 2022 grew by more than 12% to reach $454.8 million compared to the $404.1 million that was generated one year ago. This implies that year-to-date combined gaming revenue reached $5.21 billion, which was an increase of 10% or $4.74 billion compared to 2021.
In October 2022, casinos in Atlantic City were predicted to beat the $2.75 billion mark. A relatively great December confirmed that the state’s casinos had beaten the number with $2.79 billion. As the leading brick-and-mortar casino facility in the state, Borgata Casino managed a GGR of $60.5 million in December thus leading the state’s casinos in poker, slots, as well as table games.
Borgata’s brick-and-mortar revenue grew by more than 10% in December from November and by more than 11% compared to December 2021. In December, Hard Rock Hotel rebounded after a slow November while Oceans Casino surpassed December 2021’s figures but dropped from November’s GGR of $31 million.
Finally, Golden Nugget rounded out the list of AC operators boasting a GGR of $10.9 million. The remaining casinos, namely Tropicana, Resorts, Bally’s, Harrah’s, as well as Caesars all recorded year-over-year declines in their Gross Gaming Revenue. Despite these 5 casinos recording year-over-year declines, the GGR for the month improved by close to 2% from the $211.8 million that was produced in December 2021.
Retail casino growth is evident but online casinos are growing even more in January 2023
As reported above, casino revenue from brick-and-mortar facilities only accounted for a little under half of December 2022’s combined revenue. Despite the many challenges that the casinos faced during the outbreak, retail gambling was the second highest of all the gaming verticals.
Online gaming was responsible for more than 35% of the gross gaming revenue for the year, thus demonstrating the vertical’s significance to the gambling market in New Jersey. In January 2023, this impressive performance continued. According to reports from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, combined gaming revenue reached $437 million.
Of the $437 million, $211.7 million was generated from the state’s 9 brick-and-mortar casinos while $152.9 million came from online casinos and online poker. The remaining $72.3 million was produced from both in-person and online sports betting. Of the $72.3 million in sports betting income, $69 million was acquired from online sportsbooks.
The Meadowlands, one more, emerged as the revenue leader for January 2023 as far as sports betting was concerned, claiming $47.6 million from punters in New Jersey at the beginning of the year. The Meadowlands’ mobile sports betting partners which include SuperBook, PointsBet, as well as FanDuel generated $45.4 million of the combined amount.
As far as online casino and poker revenue were concerned, Borgata maintained its lead with revenue worth $40.7 million this January. Borgata also led the pack in retail casino betting. Based on reports from the state’s Gaming Enforcement, Borgata’s retail poker, slots, and table games generated $58.3 million.
Based on reports from the NJDGE, total revenue for January 2023 improved by more than 14% compared to January 2022. All verticals, including online casinos, sports wagering, and brick and mortar casinos also showed year-over-year growth at the beginning of the year.
Final Thoughts
New Jersey has always been ahead of the curve. In 2022, the gambling facilities in the state, as well as online casinos combined managed to produce an impressive revenue of $5.2 billion. Last year’s performance served as a new high for the state and if January 2023 is anything to go by, the Garden State will likely keep outperforming.
