New Jersey online gambling underperforms again
News on 13 Jun 2014
News on 13 Jun 2014
Figures released Thursday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement make disappointing reading, showing that online gambling operations took in $10.4 million in May, a decline of $1 million from April.
The decline of the newly-regulated online market has now persisted for two consecutive months in the Garden State.
State regulators balanced the bad news with the good – Atlantic City’s casinos overall recorded a welcome month-on-month increase in revenues for May of almost 1.3 percent.
Matt Levinson, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, noted that without the Atlantic Club, which closed in January this year, and including Internet gambling revenues, total gambling revenue increased by 1.3 percent, and would have been higher without an unlucky month at table games.
The 11 AC land casinos took in $232.3 million, a decline of 8.2 percent compared to May 2013, when the Atlantic Club was still open.
Since the regulated internet gambling market launch in November last year, New Jersey online casinos have won about $61.9 million – well below revenues predicted in the run-up to legalisation.
The Associated Press news agency reports that New Jersey online leader the Borgata recorded its first online revenue decline in May, falling slightly to just over $4 million, although it still holds over 38 percent of the online market.
Its closest competitor, Caesars Interactive, took in nearly $2.8 million online in May, down from just over $3 million a month earlier.
The Tropicana won nearly $1.9 million online, down from $2.1 million in April; Trump Plaza fell from $926,278 in April to $677,453 in May; the Trump Taj Mahal went from $609,450 in April to $497,728 in May.
The Golden Nugget bucked the downward trend, reporting slightly increased online revenues up from $575,914 in April to $610,949 in May.
The regulator reports that although revenues declined, the number of online gamblers registering to play in New Jersey rose 9 percent, with the total signups since November 2013 now at 351,136.
