New Jersey online gambling underperforms again

2014-06-13

Reading time 1:45 min

(US).- Figures released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show that online gambling operations took in USD 10.4 million in May, a decline of USD 1 million from April. The decline of the newly-regulated online market has now persisted for two consecutive months in the Garden State. State regulators balanced the bad news with the good – Atlantic City’s casinos overall recorded a welcome month-on-month increase in revenues for May of almost 1.3 percent.

New Jersey reported casino win from the eleven casino hotels open in both May 2013 and 2014, excluding Atlantic Club, decreased by 3.1%. Total gaming win from the casino hotels and Internet gaming operations was US$ 242.9 million in May, compared to the US$ 253.1 million in casino win for the same month last year including Atlantic Club. Internet gaming win was US$ 10.5 million in May.

As of May 31, 351,136 Internet gaming accounts have been created, up 8.9% from the accounts as of April 30. Publicly traded companies in the space include Boyd Gaming, Caesar's, Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts, Penn National and Wynn Resorts.

Matt Levinson, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, noted that without the Atlantic Club, which closed in January this year, and including Internet gambling revenues, total gambling revenue increased by 1.3 percent, and would have been higher without an unlucky month at table games.

The 11 AC land casinos took in US$ 232.3 million, a decline of 8.2 percent compared to May 2013, when the Atlantic Club was still open. Since the regulated internet gambling market launch in November last year, New Jersey online casinos have won about US$ 61.9 million - well below revenues predicted in the run-up to legalisation.

The Associated Press news agency reports that New Jersey online leader the Borgata recorded its first online revenue decline in May, falling slightly to just over US$ 4 million, although it still holds over 38 percent of the online market. Its closest competitor, Caesars Interactive, took in nearly US$ 2.8 million online in May, down from just over US$ 3 million a month earlier.

The Tropicana won nearly US$ 1.9 million online, down from US$ 2.1 million in April; Trump Plaza fell from US$ 926,278 in April to US$ 677,453 in May; the Trump Taj Mahal went from US$ 609,450 in April to US$ 497,728 in May. The Golden Nugget bucked the downward trend, reporting slightly increased online revenues up from US$ 575,914 in April to US$ 610,949 in May.

The regulator reports that although revenues declined, the number of online gamblers registering to play in New Jersey rose 9 percent, with the total signups since November 2013 now at 351,136.