According to recently released revenue reports for the state of New Jersey, casino gaming revenue increased by more than 25 percent in March – this makes it the 10th straight month of revenue growth for the state’s gambling industry. This double-digit monthly increases in the state’s gaming revenue seemingly began in June last year when the Ocean Casino Resort and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City went live. The figures which were released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement revealed a 25.3 percent year-over-year increase to a whopping $273.7 million.
Released at about the same time as the state’s revenue report were the quarterly reports which showed a 15.4 percent decline in gross operating profits – this essentially reflects the earnings before taxes, depreciation as well as other recurrent charges. In the Atlantic City casino industry, the gross operating profit is widely accepted as a measure of profitability hence the findings.
To clarify the issue of the rather low quarterly profits, James Plousis who is the chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission said that the figures also factored in the money that the casino operators spent in efforts aimed at attracting more business. He further said that while the casinos reported tighter profit margins, there were a number of impressive results from the investments that those casinos have made.
“The regional economy is benefiting, and the industry is hiring. More than 2,000 jobs are open, including about 700 full-time positions,” he said.
March 2019 Revenue Table
| LICENSEE | POKER REVENUE | CASINO REVENUE | TOTAL WIN | TAX REVENUE |
| Month totals | $1,903,790 | $37,230,590 | $39,134,380 | $6,848,517 |
| Golden Nugget | $14,227,820 | $14,227,820 | $2,489,869 | |
| Resorts | $613,808 | $7,858,283 | $8,472,091 | $1,482,616 |
| Borgata | $483,326 | $4,959,092 | $5,442,418 | $952,423 |
| Caesars | $806,656 | $4,329,137 | $5,135,793 | $898,764 |
| Tropicana | $3,727,872 | $3,727,872 | $652,378 | |
| Hard Rock | $1,630,845 | $1,630,845 | $285,398 | |
| Ocean | $497,541 | $497,541 | $87,070 |
Record Online Gaming Figures
March was, without a doubt, one of the harshest months for the gambling industry. However, New Jersey’s gambling market managed to overcome all of the obstacles with the state’s licensed online gambling operators making close to $40 million – this is a 53 percent year-over-year increase from the same month last year. This was largely driven by some newly regulated iGaming verticals such as online sports betting and daily fantasy sports. Online poker, on the other hand, did not record much of a change and therefore did not contribute much to the very impressive revenue bump.
| Online Casino Licensee | 2019 March Revenue | 2018 March Revenue | % Change |
| Borgata | $5,442,418 | $4,583,234 | 18.7% |
| Caesars | $5,135,793 | $4,412,034 | 34.1% |
| Golden Nugget | $14,227,820 | $8,655,240 | 64.4% |
| Hard Rock | $1,630,845 | — | — |
| Ocean Resort | $497,541 | — | — |
| Resorts | $8,472,091 | $4,234,904 | 100.1% |
| Tropicana | $3,727,872 | $3,694,798 | 0.9% |