Internet gaming win in New Jersey continues to perform strong in 2015 and it appears that the state’s online poker slide may have hit bottom. Last week, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released the state gaming revenue numbers for July 2015. Online casinos edged up 7.4 percent from June and are up over 24% from July 2014.
New Jersey iGaming Continues to Gain
New Jersey iGaming put up solid number for July 2015, pulling in $12.5 million. Casino brought in $10.6 million while online poker pulled in $1.88 million. This figure is up 24% from 2014 where the combined industry pulled in just $10.07 million.
Overall, New Jersey is up a solid 15.6% so far this year. Through July, NJ iGaming has pulled in $84.5 million versus $73.12 million in 2014. If you remove the now defunct Ultimate Gaming from the equation, NJ iGaming is up 22.8% in 2015.
Borgata Leading the Way – Caesars Struggling
Once again, the Borgata led all NJ online casinos with $3.83 million in revenue in July. Nearly typing for the second spot were Tropicana and Golden Nugget. A mere $53,396 separated the pair for second. Caesars posted a small gain for the month but is down nearly 2% when compared to 2014 earnings.
Resorts continues to impress. In July, they gained 28.25% to bring in $558,316. Since opening in February, Resorts has consistently gained market share.
Comparing figures from 2014, nearly every casino save Caesars posted gains. Caesars is the only casino to post a negative gain year-over-year. This is in line with their annual performance, currently down 13% through July. Borgata posted a solid gain in July and is down just .4% on the year.
Golden Nugget and Tropicana continue to dominate despite not spreading online poker. Both have nearly the same earnings this year with just $250,000 separating the two. Check out the below chart comparing year-over-year performance for July.
| Casino | 2015 Revenue | 2014 Revenue | % Change |
| Borgata | $3,831,064 | $3,181,048 | 20.4% |
| Caesars | $2,673,003 | $2,716,594 | -1.6% |
| Golden Nugget* | $2,726,399 | $944,840 | 188.6% |
| Tropicana | $2,743,209 | $1964,130 | 39.7% |
| Resorts** | $558,316 | N/A | N/A |
* – 2014 figures were pre-Betfair
** – Resorts started operations in 2015
Will Online Poker Rebound?
The most notable stat on July’s report was the 2.73% gain by online poker after a few months of steady losses. This may have been driven by the late rush by players to win their way into the WSOP Main Event but it may also signal that online poker has hit a bottom.
If the bottom has been reached, that’s great news for profits in the fall. Casino games are expected to perform better in the fall and a rebound by online poker could help to push profits above estimates.
Even a stable online poker market would be beneficial. Online poker players are likely waiting to see if the DGE will finally pull the trigger on PokerStars before they come back in force. If this doesn’t happen, don’t be surprised to see another dip for online poker in the first few months of 2016.
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