As we are now into the middle of December, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has released the November online gambling earnings. For the most part, operators were either up or down a little bit, remaining on a relatively even keel. In total, gambling sites brought in $91.8 million last month, just slightly under the $93.5 million earned in October.
Revenue Breakdown
Combined earnings for the online casino and poker industry came in at $91,827,190. For the daily average, a new record was set at just over $3 million. Online casinos earned just over $89 million of the full total while online poker generated just over $2.3 million. Unfortunately for the poker industry, November was the fourth month running that revenue was on the decline.
It seems that the online poker industry was boosted a bit by the WSOP Online but has been getting back to normal over the past few months. Players also seemed to take to the online poker sites due to a lack of entertainment relating to stay at home orders.
It is important to note the market share among operators in New Jersey. We all know that the Golden Nugget is number one month after month. However, the Borgata is slowly gaining ground. The Golden Nugget is maintaining the lead still but the Borgata is closing in. There is now only just over 11% difference in total revenues between the two operators.
When it comes to seeing gains from October to November, the only three operators to see that result was the Hard Rock, the Borgata, and Ocean Casino. For Hard Rock, online casino gaming was up from $5.4 million to $6.2 million.
Ocean Casino earned just over $678,000 in October and was close to the $1 million mark this past month. The brand earned $947,723 in November. For the Borgata, the operator earned $22 million in October and just over $23.4 million in November.
Don’t Forget Sports Betting
While the totals tally only online casino and poker gaming, casinos in Atlantic City as well as racinos in upper New Jersey also offer online sports betting. The totals from sports bets are calculated separately. In November, the sports betting industry generated $50.6 million in total revenues. For online betting, the revenues came in at $43.7 million.
When it comes to bets, $870 million were placed by online bettors. Add in retail bets and you have an additional $60 million. In total, the state hit a new record high for sports betting with $932 million in wagers.
It will be interesting to see how New Jersey rounds out the year once the December totals are in. Will it be relatively the same and totals fall pretty even? Or will it be an up or down swing? Only time will tell how 2020 will end for the online gambling industry. However, we do know that the state is certainly grateful for the iGaming options as it has been a revenue blessing as the land-based casinos were closed for quite some time and remain at a lower capacity rate today.