New Jersey online casino operators sustain record revenue levels in June

Online casinos won $84.9 million from gamblers and online sportsbooks added another $12.6 million, bringing June’s total gross gambling revenue to $97.5 million, according to numbers released by the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement.

Total revenue is up slightly from May’s $95.9 million, when online casinos set a record with $85.9 million. The slight increase is mostly thanks to the small uptick in online sports betting revenue, which jumped $2.7 million after Garden State sportsbooks won $9.9 million in May.

Online sports betting revenue will continue to increase as major American professional sports leagues begin their reboot in the coming weeks. Even in the pre-COVID-19 gambling world, most of New Jersey’s sports betting was done through mobile apps and not at brick-and-mortar sportsbooks.

While online casinos picked up some slack, without the brick-and-mortar arena, the $97.5 million represented a 65.6 percent drop year-over-year.

And with the drop in gambling revenue comes a drop in tax revenue that comes with it. Internet gambling revenue is taxed at nearly double the rate of its brick-and-mortar counterparts, but the state took $14.4 million worth of gambling taxes last month but collected $23.8 million a year earlier.

Atlantic City casinos were permitted to reopen for business July 2, which will certainly spark a jump in both gaming and tax revenue. When Borgata opens its doors July 26, all nine Atlantic City casinos will be open for business, albeit with several restrictions, for the first time since March 16.

Through the first two quarters of 2020, New Jersey gross gaming revenue is $1.03 billion. This represents a 35.4 percent drop form the first half of 2019 when the state saw $1.59 billion worth of gambling revenue.