New Jersey Casinos End 2023 with $180 Million in December Earnings

The year 2023 has come to an end, and New Jersey online casinos went out with a bang. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has now provided the details of December revenues for iGaming in the state. In total, the casinos generated over $180.3 million for the month.

This was a new monthly all-time high, beating the $171.6 million generated in November 2023. Compared to the same month in 2022, the online casinos were able to earn over 19% in revenues. For 2023, the iGaming industry brought over $1.9 billion to the state. This was an increase of almost 16% from the previous year.

New Jersey was among the first states to legalize online casino gaming in the US. The state began offering services in November 2013, so this past November marked the ten year milestone of the state. Since the beginning, the online gambling industry has brought in over $7.4 billion in revenues and over $1 billion in tax payments.

Online gambling provides over 36% of the total gaming revenue in the Garden State. Last year, the industry provided over 49% of the total revenues. For the year, iGaming gave the state over $288 million in taxes.

As we look at the December figures, it's important to note that the reports are based on license holders and are not per operator. We will list operators under the license, but you won’t know specifically how much each individual operator provided for the month.

The top earner for December was Golden Nugget Atlantic City. The casino brought in over $52.8 million in earnings and paid over $8 million in taxes. Golden Nugget is connected to Betway, BetRivers, and FanDuel Casino. Resorts Digital came in second, bringing in $46.1 million and paid $6.9 million in taxes. The Resorts license consists of DraftKings, PokerStars, Resorts Casino, and Mohegan Sun Casino.

Borgata came in third with $40.5 million in revenues. The casino paid just over $6 million in taxes. The Borgata is connected to Party Poker and Casino, Pala Casino, BetMGM, and Wheel of Fortune. Golden Nugget, Resorts, and Borgata are the top three license holders on the list.

Moving down to fourth place, the earnings totals are significantly lower. Tropicana Casino earned just over $11.1 million, while Hard Rock brought in $9 million. Bally’s came in next with $7.8 million, followed by Caesars with $6.7 million.

Rounding out the list is Ocean Casino with $5.8 million and Harrah’s with $151,058 in earnings. While Bally’s, Ocean, and Hard Rock may be towards the bottom when it comes to earnings totals, they saw a significant uptick in revenues.

Bally’s was up by over 50% for the month, while Ocean saw an increase of 65%. Hard Rock was up over 70% year-over-year. Each of these casinos were able to see a huge turnaround for the month when it comes to overall earnings.

With the New Year in full swing, we look ahead and consider how New Jersey casinos will fare. The record earnings totals from 2023 and are expected to carry over in 2024, with even more earnings to be made. The online casinos in the state continue to expand their portfolios and platforms to include new content and promotions.

As long as players are interested in iGaming content, the state should continue to hit record totals. It will be interesting to see the 2023 comparisons with January, February, and March earnings to see if the state is getting off on the right foot in 2024. Will the first few months show even higher earnings?