The month of February may be short on days, but that didn’t stop New Jersey online gaming from shattering records.
On Wednesday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released the Feb. 2018 revenue numbers for the state’s online gaming industry and the picture is rosy.
February 2018 New Jersey Online Gaming Summary
For the second month in a row, online gaming revenue came in at nearly $22 million. That figure is good for a 17% increase compared to Feb. 2017.
Posting a number north of $21 million has only happened five times, and it is the first time we’ve seen it happen in consecutive months.
It’s the casinos that continue to carry the bottom line while poker still struggles to find its way. Poker revenues remained relatively flat compared to last month but are still posting a double-digit deficit percentage when compared to the previous year.
Golden Nugget, once again, comes out as the big winner. The online casino continues its domination of the space by more than doubling the revenue of its nearest competitor, Borgata.
The growth and consistency of online casino revenues are exciting. If February is any indication, another record number for March is a real possibility.
New Jersey overall online revenue numbers
- Casino: $20,219,136 for the month
(Up 11.86% month over month and 22.16% increase year over year)
- Poker: $1,772,988 for the month
(Up .63% month over month and an 18.3% decrease year over year)
- Overall: $21,992,124 for the month
(Up 10.86% month over month and a 17.47% increase year over year)
Online revenue detail by operator
Golden Nugget (Golden Nugget, Betfair, SugarHouse)
Golden Nugget remains golden. Its revenues are so far out in front that it has the other online operators wondering what they can do to close the gap.
Golden Nugget produced $7,885,648 in February, for an increase of 19.60% compared to Jan. 2018 and a 53.36% compared to this same time last year.
Borgata (Borgata, Party, Pala, MGM)
Borgata once thought to be the one to watch in the industry had to relinquish its role quite a while ago.
Coming off a January decline in revenue, Borgata is probably sighing with relief at the small increase it posted.
It is technically sitting in second place, but the reality is it is practically sharing second place with everyone else.
Borgata’s revenue numbers
- Casino: $3,259,077 for the month
(Up 2.31% month over month for a 4.10% increase year over year)
- Poker: $532,936 for the month
(Down 5.85% month over month for a 13.36% decrease year over year)
- Overall: $3,792,013 for the month
(Up 1.08%% month over month for a 1.23% increase year over year)
Resorts AC (Resorts, Mohegan Sun, PokerStars NJ)
While it’s overall revenue is less than that of Borgata’s, Resorts revenue growth comes in second behind that of Golden Nugget.
At this rate, it won’t be surprising for Resorts take over the second-place spot soon.
The one dark spot on an otherwise excellent month for Resorts is PokerStars. The online poker room posted the largest month-over-month loss percentage at 6.04% and is down over 22% year-over-year.
Resorts’ revenue numbers
- Casino: $3,082,420 for the month
(Up 11.15% month over month for a 42.51% increase year over year)
- Poker: $693,316 for the month
(Down 6.04% month over month for a 22.02% decrease year over year)
- Overall: $3,775736 for the month
(Up 7.54% month over month for a 23.71% increase year over year)
Caesars (888, Caesars, Harrah’s, WSOP)
Caesars bucked the trend by producing a stronger poker room revenue then it did in the casino. Coming off a dismal Jan., Caesars poker posted 19% increase compared to last month.
The poker room held the New Jersey Poker Classic II and started running satellites to the World Series of Poker last month. Those two things could explain the significant bump.
It will be interesting to see if the trend continues as the WSOP gets closer and a more aggressive satellite schedule gets underway.
Even so, Caesars still sits in last place and the only operator that has an overall negative year-over-year number.
Caesars’ revenue numbers
- Casino: $2,645,531 for the month
(Up 2.95% month over month for a 6.49% decrease year over year)
- Poker: $546,736 for the month
(Up 19.38% month over month for a 17.93% decrease year over year)
- Overall: $3,192,267 for the month
(Up 5.43% month over month for an 8.68% decrease year over year)
Tropicana (Tropicana, Virgin)
Tropicana just keeps chugging along. It had a solid month, moving out of the last place with $3,346,460 in revenue.
That number was good for a 13% increase in revenue compared to last month. And while it’s year-over-year number is in positive territory (2.88%), it’s doesn’t reflect the strength of the industry as a whole.
Final Thoughts
Online gaming in New Jersey is only five years old. And while most businesses don’t expect to produce a profit until year five, online gaming and its double-digit growth are getting noticed.
As online gaming legislation works through the process in other states, a robust online gaming industry in New Jersey can only help further the cause.
To sum up the month, we find ourselves celebrating casino revenues and lamenting at the poker room returns.
And while the casino revenues are strong enough to carry poker, some heated boardroom discussions might be taking place about how to fix the downward trend.
Overall, though, the online gaming industry in NJ is gleaming after posting record numbers for the second straight month. Let’s hope the trend continues.
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