New Jersey Gambling Revenue Was Impressive

If the month of January was any indication, the state of New Jersey is going to cash in on gaming revenue throughout 2024. Some states have actually reported significant drops in revenue to begin the year, but that wasn’t the case in this state.

While the in-person casinos did struggle a bit compared to other recent months, the overall numbers were extremely impressive. The total gross gaming revenue for the month was $559 million, and that easily shattered previous records.

Nearly all of the industries were able to establish new records in January, but the casinos are going to be looking to bounce back. The revenue that is generated online was great, but a good chunk of that money has to be shared.

In total the gross gaming revenue was up nearly 30% from the January 2023 results, and that shows that there is still some interest in betting online. There were a number of factors that led to a decrease in casino gambling, and some of that could be corrected in February.

Weather a Concern

The nine casinos in Atlantic City always tend to perform better during the summer months as that is when people are visiting the city. This is still a popular destination throughout the winter as well, but people simply weren’t able to get to them in January.

The entire country was hit hard by winter weather, and that was especially true in the Northeast portion of the country. Casino revenue was down by close to 4% from 12 months ago, and that is something that will have to be fixed.

Bad weather did seem to push gamblers online in January, and that allowed the online casinos and sportsbooks to cash in. New Jersey casino revenue still hasn’t fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, but things were heading in the right direction.

The Borgata Casino, Hard Rock Casino, and Ocean Casino were all able to put up some big numbers in January, and those casinos helped to keep the numbers from tanking even worse. The other six casinos all reported a lower revenue last month than the numbers that they put up back in January 2020.

Looking at Other Numbers

Online casino gambling will always be an industry that brings in more money than sports betting, but that industry has made a comeback. There was a time when New Jersey slipped to the third-largest sports betting market, but it’s now back in second place.

Sports betting revenue for the month checked in at $171 million, which was actually an increase of 136% from just 12 months earlier. The sportsbooks are tied to the casinos, and that still allows those properties to cash in.

Total sports betting revenue was $1.71 billion in January, and that shattered the previous state record that was set in November. There hasn’t been any new casinos come to the state of New Jersey in quite some time, and that is something else that could be keeping people away.