Online gambling no threat to land casinos in New Jersey

The Press of Atlantic City reports that a new poll conducted by the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey shows that less than 3 percent of New Jersey gamblers have gambled online since the state launched Internet gambling in November last year.

The poll surveyed 690 individuals who gambled in Atlantic City casinos in the past year.

And just seven percent of those polled said they intend to gamble online in New Jersey in the coming year.

“Interest in online gambling is growing and should continue to grow once marketing efforts and promotions take off,” Levenson Institute Director Israel Posner told Press of Atlantic City.

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement statistics released earlier this month showed that online gambling brought in $8.4 million in revenue through the end of December.

Stockton’s poll also addressed the possibility of legalised sports betting in the state, an issue that New Jersey has been fighting in court against the Department of Justice and the major US sports leagues following a successful 2011 referendum, and that will likely end in a US Supreme Court action.

According to the poll, 55 percent of gamblers support legalised sports betting, and more than one in five said they would be likely to bet on sports events if they could do so legally in New Jersey.

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