New Jersey Online Gaming Suffers April Setback
April was not a positive month for online gambling in New Jersey. As compared to the previous month, both online poker and casino games took revenue dips.
Normally, April is a month when online poker traffic increases. While a long winter may have pushed players outside to enjoy some long-awaited spring weather, it is also typically a month when players play more online poker due to a plethora of tournament series and an eagerness to put in some hours before the summer of World Series of Poker and other live events. This was not the case in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released all of the numbers for April today, so let’s take a look at the details.
Online Poker Comeback Over…For Now
March gave the online poker segment of New Jersey online gaming a reason to celebrate, as it showed an increase of nearly 10% growth over the previous month. The revenue boost was a welcome change from nearly a year of revenue decreases.
April numbers put online poker back several months, as the total win was not only down significantly year-on-year but below the numbers for March and even February.
–April 2018 online poker win: $1,761,404
–March 2018 online poker win: $1,966,366
–April 2017 online poker win: $1,968,377
–Month-on-month: 10.4% decrease
–Year-on-year: 10.5% decrease
If there is a silver lining, it is that an increase for May is almost inevitable. Not only is it typically an even bigger month for online poker players in general, it will also show the results of the long-awaited entry of New Jersey into the shared online poker liquidity network. WSOP/888 launched its tri-state venture on May 1, and there is likely to be a revenue boost for the entire peer-to-peer segment as a result.
Online Gaming Down but Still Strong
This was a rare month for all of online gaming, as the month-to-month revenue was down. Nearly every month, the industry grows, so April offered a unique set of numbers. But even with the monthly dip, the overall number still became the second highest revenue month for online gaming in New Jersey.
I know sports is taking up most of the oxygen, but NJ online gaming had its second best month ever in April, tallying over $23m in revenue.
— Steve Ruddock (@SteveRuddock) May 14, 2018
With the overall decline, it is even more likely due to weather. The long winter in the United States lasted well into April, especially for Midwestern and Eastern states, so people who may have been spending too much time indoors for months may have dropped everything to breathe warmer air.
–April 2018 online gaming win: $23,018,762
–March 2018 online gaming win: $25,580,210
–April 2017 online gaming win: $20,822,026
–Month-on-month: 10% decrease
–Year-on-year: 10.6% increase
May numbers are likely to rise again after what was likely only a temporary step back. The numbers are still positive and will likely grow again, as there is no reason to believe this was anything other than a glitch in the overall trend.
Casino Industry Still Depends on Internet Gaming
The entire casino industry brought in $214,435,549 for the month of April, which was a 1.3% increase over the previous year. However, only 0.3% of that was from traditional casino revenue, while the majority of the boost came from the online gaming sector.
As for a monthly difference, April was down more than $4.1 million from March 2018.
In total, the end of April showed year-to-date wins of more than $809 million for the entire gaming sector, with more than $92.5 million of it from internet gaming.
This can all change soon, however, and for the better. With the decision of the US Supreme Court in favor of New Jersey, the state can soon offer sports betting. It is unclear what the exact framework will look like or if the industry will launch before the end of May, but those numbers will inevitably help the entire casino business in the state in the coming months.
