New Jersey Casinos Win $531m in August

New Jersey casinos are stepping up their game in 2023, with several months recording super high revenue totals. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement recently revealed the August totals, showcasing that $531 million was generated from all gambling services in the state. This includes online gambling, sports betting, and retail casinos.

The report breaks down each section of totals to show how each sector fares. Atlantic City casinos saw an increase of 2.3% for in-person gambling from August 2022. In total, $280.2 million was earned from land-based venues.

It is important to note that in-person winnings are a key factor for the industry as they are only given to the casino operator. With online casino and sports betting revenues, the amount is split with partners, which cuts down on the overall profit margin for the casino facility.

Only three casinos were able to generate more last month from players onsite than pre-pandemic totals from August 2019. They were the Borgata Casino, Hard Rock, and Ocean Casino Resort. The monthly overall total reached over $500 million for only the second time in the history of the industry, so 2023 is set to be a strong year for all operators.

Looking at combined revenue totals, several venues saw a solid increase in earnings. Hard Rock generated over $59 million, which is almost a 10% increase from last year. The Golden Nugget was up even more at over 21% with $54 million in earnings. Ocean Casino saw an increase of more than 11% with $44.6 million.

Bally’s was up 15.4% with $23.3 million, while the remaining casinos saw a decrease in earnings when compared to last year. Borgata was down slightly by 2.3%, with almost $118 million in earnings. Tropicana was down almost 6% with $33 million, and Harrah’s dropped 2.5% with $24.5 million. Caesars was down under 1% with $22 million, and Resorts was down 5.6% with $17.6 million.

Online providers were up and down as well. Resorts Digital generated over $99 million from NJ online casino services, which is a 128% increase in just one year. Caesars Interactive Entertainment NJ was down 25%, though, with only $6.6 million in earnings.

Sports bets came in at $725 million, with $96 million kept as revenues once the bets and expenses of the industry were paid. Meadowlands was able to earn $25.7 million, while Freehold Raceway brought in $2.2 million. Monmouth Park brought in the least with $1.3 million.

Overall, the industry as a whole is on trend to earn record revenues in 2023. It will be interesting to see how the remaining months play out and if even higher revenue totals will be reached in the remaining months of 2023.

August was a good month for casino operators in New Jersey as overall totals were able to beat July numbers. Last month, the industry brought in $506.2 million, which was yet another increase from 2022. From January to July, gambling services brought in over $3 billion, which is already an increase of 11% when compared to the same time frame the previous year.

The main factor behind earnings is that online and land-based operators continue to bring in new and exciting options for players to enjoy. Hard Rock just launched a new and improved online gaming platform, while land-based casinos have undergone recent physical changes, with more to come.

Atlantic City operators know that change is key to continuing to bring in repeat visitors month after month and year after year. New Jersey remains a top operating state when it comes to gambling, with the industry essentially providing the blueprint for other states to get started, be it with online or land-based gaming.