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NJ sports and igaming grow, but casinos struggle in July

News

New Jersey’s sports betting revenue climbed 65.2% year-on-year in July, but the state’s land-based casino market saw further declines as it continued to feel the impact of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.

Sportsbook revenue amounted to $29.6m in July, up from $17.9m in the same month last year, while the figure also represented a 103.2% month-on-month increase on the $12.6m recorded in June this year.

Consumers wagered a total of $315.1m with sportsbooks in New Jersey, up by 25.3% on last year, with players again favouring online. Some $295.8m was bet online, compared to $19.3m wagered in-person at retail facilities.

The market was boosted by the return of several major sports events later in the month, such as the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.

Meadowlands and sub-licensees FanDuel and PointsBet remained some way out ahead in terms of sports wagering revenue, posting $14.1m for the month, up 22.0% year-on-year.

Next up was Resorts Digital, which, working in partnership with DraftKings, saw revenue rocket 121.6% to $8.2m. The Borgata also performed well with revenue totalling $3.0m, a huge rise of 243.1% from $859,478 last year.

Turning attention to online gambling and revenue in this market jumped 122.5% year-on-year from $39.3m in July 2019 to $87.5m. This was also 3.1% higher than $84.9m recorded in June this year.

Golden Nugget led this sector with $31.5m in revenue, up 11.3% year-on-year, ahead of Resorts Digital with $18.0m and Borgata on $15.3m for the month.

However, despite sports betting and igaming growth, New Jersey saw further declines in its casino market, with revenue falling by 46.8% from $277.1m last year to $147.4m this July.

Most of New Jersey’s land-based Atlantic City casinos only reopened on July 2, though they are subject to strict measures to prevent further spread of Covid-19, with properties operating at 25% capacity.

As such, slot machine revenue – the main source of gambling income in the state – was down 42.2% year-on-year to $111.8m, while table game revenue also fell 57.5% from $83.8m to $35.6m.

Land-based declines partially offset growth in sports betting and igaming, with total gaming win for the month standing at $264.5m, down 20.9% from $334.4m last year.

For the year-to-date, through to the end of July, sports betting revenue was up by 8.6% to $138.5m, while igaming revenue was up 98.7% at $510.2m.

However, as casino revenue was 58.3% lower at $643.2m, this meant overall gaming revenue was down 32.9% at $1.29bn.