New Jersey iGaming Remains Solid as Online Poker Dips
It appears that the New Jersey online gambling market hit its ceiling, at least for now. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released its June revenue report, and it didn’t display the type of internet gaming growth to which the industry had become accustomed.
Sports wagering increased as some sports leagues began to peek out from behind the coronavirus shutdowns. Online slots and table games did not increase, however, which was extremely unusual. And online poker revenue decreased again, which, sadly, has become par for the course for the still-struggling little segment of the online industry.
Perhaps, people finally left their homes in June. As number of positive Covid-19 cases decreased and led to the initial stages of reopenings for beaches, restaurants, and stores, people may have turned off their computers and ventured out of their quarantine quarters.
Whatever the reason, the June report from the NJ DGE is a very unusual one indeed.
Even so, that internet gaming and sports wagering revenue amounted to more than $97.5 million while the casinos remained closed throughout June and delivered exactly zero dollars in revenue.
https://twitter.com/RobertDellaFave/status/1283103678661107712?s=20
June 2020 Online Poker Revenue
Hope lived for online poker with significant revenue growth in April. It hit a new high, and the previously shrinking market showed promise. Then came May, during which poker revenue sunk quite significantly. Hopes for a booming little market were knocked down but not out.
While $3.5 million in revenue is nothing to sneeze at, online poker’s potential is not what it could be.
–June 2020 online poker win: $3,537,077
–May 2020 online poker win: $4,516,529
–June 2019 online poker win: $1,770,178
—Month-on-month: 216% decrease
—Year-on-year: 99.8% increase
June 2020 Online Casino Games Revenue
Followers of New Jersey’s internet gaming market have grown accustomed to seeing growth of 50% or more – and that was before Covid-19. The revenue boosts since live casino gambling shut down in March were phenomenal in April and May.
June’s revenue was down by a relatively miniscule amount, but the lack of growth that had continued for years was a bit startling for industry watchers. Even so, casino games delivered more than $81 million to New Jersey last month.
–June 2020 online casino games win: $81,376,070
–May 2020 online casino games win: $81,423,413
–June 2019 online casino games win: $36,288,066
—Month-on-month: 0.01% decrease
—Year-on-year: 124.3% increase
Total Internet Gaming Win for June 2020
Even with the lack of growth in online slots and table games, those games held up the internet gaming sector as a whole. The month-to-month loss merely reflected the online poker decrease.
–June 2020 total internet gaming win: $84,913,147
–May 2020 total internet gaming win: $85,939,942
–June 2019 total internet gaming win: $38,058,244
—Month-on-month: 1.2% decrease
—Year-on-year: 123.1% increase
Sports Betting in June 2020
For the second month in a row, New Jersey sports betting numbers rose as some sports leagues gave bettors more options. Revenue should continue its growth in some form for the remainder of 2020, notwithstanding a possible second or third shutdown due to a coronavirus wave.
–June 2020 sports betting win: $12,639,282
–May 2020 sports betting win: $9,912,062
–June 2019 sports betting win: $9,701,925
—Month-on-month: 27.5% increase
—Year-on-year: 30.3% increase
Total New Jersey Gaming Revenue for June 2020
A third very distressing month is in the books for New Jersey gaming. July should tell a bit of a different story as most casinos unlocked their doors in the first weeks of this month to welcome some players back. While another uptick in Covid-19 cases looms in much of the United States, New Jersey is one of the states without worrisome numbers.
July will put numbers back in the revenue column of the DGE statistics report. The industry will take what it can get at this point. Even so, internet gaming and sports wagering delivered more than $97.5 million to the state when all land-based options remained padlocked. That part of the industry deserves its kudos.
–June 2020 total gaming revenue: $97,552,429
–May 2020 total gaming revenue: $95,852,004
–June 2019 total gaming revenue: $283,765,186
–Month-on-month: 1.8% increase
–Year-on-year: 65.6% decrease
July revenue will be interesting for the aforementioned reasons. And online poker numbers may rise again, as New Jersey is one of only two states carrying World Series of Poker tournaments online. People have been driving into New Jersey to participate in impressive numbers so far.
For the glass half-full crowd, it is borderline astounding that revenue is only down 65% thanks to the presence of online gambling in the state. https://t.co/lKplDneD7I
— Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker) July 14, 2020
