New Jersey Land-Based Casino Revenues Fall Flat in November while iGaming Sees Boost

The November revenue reports are in for New Jersey casinos, and it seems the iGaming market is still well ahead of its land-based counterparts. Atlantic City casinos brought in $215 million in revenues, which is a low 0.2% increase from November 2022. For the iGaming market, the online operators generated over $170 million, an increase of over 17%. The online operators continue to see growth month after month while the retail casinos are falling flat. 

Only three casino properties were able to see growth in November. Ocean Casino Resort, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and Bally’s each saw better returns in November of this year than last year. The market leader remains the Borgata Casino, bringing in $51 million for the month. Table games generated over $11.5 million, while slots brought in over $38 million.

Next in line, but quite far behind, is Hard Rock. The casino generated over $41 million, with the bulk coming from slot machines. Ocean Casino was a distant third, bringing in $31 million. On the lower end, we have Harrah’s at $19m, Tropicana and Caesars at $17m, Resorts at $12.4m, Bally’s at $12m, and Golden Nugget at $11m.

The top operating casinos are on track to earn more in 2023 than in 2022, which is a boost for the industry. Hard Rock is up 2.8% for the year, with over $467 million in earnings. Ocean is up over 16% for the year, with $381.9 million in earnings.

Overall, the retail casinos are holding steady but are not seeing huge increases in earnings. It seems the online market is the only one where a boost in earnings is on a steady climb. 

While land-based casinos are struggling a bit, online sites are going strong. The Division of Gaming Enforcement has reported that November earnings for the iGaming market are at an all-time high. The $171.6 million generated sets a new record for the state, with year-over-year revenues increasing by more than 17%. The total beat out the recent record-setting total from October 2023.

In 2022, the industry earned over $1.66 billion in revenues. The state is already on track to bring in over $1.7 billion this year. November marked the 33rd month in a row that online gambling has brought in over $100 million in earnings. This seems to be the standard moving forward and no longer a significant milestone.

One downside to how revenues are listed is that the DGE does not break down earnings per operator. Instead, the revenues are listed based on the license holder. One license holder may have several platforms under its umbrella, so it can be difficult to see who the biggest contributor to the overall earnings is.

When it comes to license holders, it seems Golden Nugget reigns supreme. The operators under this license brought in the most, at over $50 million in earnings. Resorts Digital was a close second with $47.2 million. Falling slightly behind was Borgata with $37 million.

Rounding out the bottom of the list are the remaining license holders. Tropicana generated just over $9 million, while Hard Rock brought in $8.6m. Bally’s was next with $7.9m, and Caesars fell short with $5.6 million. Ocean also brought in $5m, and Harrah’s was able to contribute only $7,184.

Hard Rock saw the biggest jump in earnings, bringing in 72% more than last year. Bally’s came in second with a 64.3% increase. Ocean Casino was also up, with over 47% more earnings. Caesars saw the largest dip, falling short by 20% from last year.

With one month remaining, the New Jersey online casino industry is set to make waves for 2023. We expect the final month to be as high as November and may see yet another record-setting revenue total.