Gaming regulators have revealed the March 2021 revenue earnings in the state of New Jersey. With live and online revenues combined, the state has seen a nice year-over-year increase. In total, the March revenues came in at $359.2 million. This was a 120% increase from March 2020.
Details of the Revenue Report
Brick and mortar facilities were able to generate $184.8 million from slots and table games. This was a solid increase of 116%. This was expected of course as the casinos were shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The venues were shut down for quite some time before they reopened at lower capacities.
For online gaming, the state brought in $113.7 million. This was from casino and poker gaming combined. This was a nice 75% increase from the same month last year. For online sports betting, the total came in at just over $60 million once wins were paid out. The betting handle was huge, coming in at $859.6 million for March.
March 2021 was a great month for New Jersey, with favorable market conditions. Casinos were open the entire month and this helped the year-over-year boost due to the COVID-19 closures last year. However, if you go back even further, to 2019, the total industry earnings is 18% higher. This means the state saw an increase for two years running.
The state is still subject to COVID-19 regulations as of right now. Atlantic City casinos are limited to 50% capacity. Casino executives also say that smoking indoors is a no-go right now. Executives say that the occupancy restrictions and the smoking ban are negatively affecting the rebound potential of the market.
Some operators are not happy with the temporary smoking ban. The ban remains in place so that visitors will continue to wear a mask and not potentially expose others to the virus. Some anti-smoking groups are calling for a permanent ban since casinos across the United States have been able to function without smoking for many months now.
Borgata the Most Successful
When it comes to total gross gaming revenues earned, it is the MGM Resorts property, the Borgata that was the big earner. With over $89 million in earnings, the casino was the dominating operator for March. The land-based casino earned just over $46 million, and the online site generated over $36 million.
Coming in second was Hard Rock. The casino earned just under $70 million for the month. The operator was the top earner when it comes to online gaming, with $31.1 million. The Hard Rock works with Golden Nugget Online Gaming which is always the top producer of revenues when it comes to online casino gaming.
In the sports betting sector, it was the Meadowlands that generated the most funds. FanDuel is the operator’s partner, and they generated over $31 million in online revenues. Amazingly, this was more than 50% of the sports betting win for the state. Draftkings and its partner, Resorts Casino, showed up in second place, earning only $14.1 million.