With these figures, 2020 was certainly the best year in terms of online gaming revenue for the casino. This is a big jump from the revenue of $77.8 million it recorded in 2019.
The New Jersey online gaming industry recorded nearly $1 billion in annual revenue from online gaming alone in the year 2020 which shows an increase of 101%.
This big jump was all thanks to the coronavirus pandemic which saw Brick and mortar casinos close their door for over 100 days. With people confined to their homes and with no means of connecting to land-based casinos, they had to move to the New Jersey online gaming market to get back to placing wagers and winning big on their stakes
Borgata President and COO Melonie Johnson agree that the online gaming market was a big plus to casino operations last year.
“It’s proven to be very profitable for us,” Johnson said during an interview with Yahoo! Finance. “The option for a brick and mortar casino was taken away mid-March due to COVID-19. And our customers did have the option and the luxury of going online in the comfort of their own homes and playing.”
Borgata has several online sites operating under its casino gaming license including the likes of
- BorgataCasino
- BorgataPoker
- PalaCasino
- PartyCasino
- PartyPoker
But the leading brand and the most recognizable is BetMGM.
With BetMGM being at the top, it is no surprise that the bulk of the casino’s online gaming revenue comes from BetMGM. According to the vice president of gaming for BetMGM, Matthew Sunderland, the growth of BetMGM was by design even though the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated some aspects of its growth. However, Sunderland points out that BetMGM has positioned itself over the years to claim such high returns seen in 2020.
“This is the culmination of…quite a long period of hard work,” he said, adding that factors related to COVID clearly moved the needle. “Everyone seems to be benefiting from an increase in revenue, especially when there was very little live sports and casinos were closed, requiring a natural migration online.”
The last months of 2020 saw the biggest online revenue increases recorded by the casino
- August: $19.7 million (up 177.2%)
- September: $20.3 million (up 191.4%)
- October: $22 million (up 184.6%)
- November: $23.4 million (up 185%)
- December: $27.1 million (up 194.2%)
Borgata and BetMGM continue to promote each other with the former giving increased exposure to new players while the latter keeps customers loyal when it’s not possible for them to make a trip to the casino.
With one complimenting the other, this contributes to the increase in the company’s revenue. While the online growth is welcomed by Johnson, she also hopes for things to return to normal and that casino patrons can return back to gaming in the halls.
“Right now, we’re hopeful, very hopeful, that once we can get individuals vaccinated and we get to a point when we have herd immunity, hopefully sometime towards the latter part of this year, we can see things move to more of a normal experience at the property and within the community,” she said.
