Garden State casinos beat the heat in epic style during July, generating their highest monthly revenue total in eight-plus years, according to figures from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released Tuesday.
The nearly $299 million in brick-and-mortar casino revenue is the highest total for any month going back to January 2014, the earliest available month for viewing on the state website. The previous high since then was $294.4 million in August 2014, followed by $286.5 million in August 2019. Last month’s figure represented a 30.5% increase from June’s total of $229.1 million and an 8% improvement from last July’s $276.9 million.
There were month-over-month revenue increases across the board in New Jersey’s three major gaming disciplines as sports wagering revenue totaled $45 million, a 14.7% increase from June despite handle tailing off 16% to nearly $531.9 million — the lowest total since the $494.8 million wagered in February 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Online casino gaming revenue saw a more modest increase of 2.7% from June to $136.7 million, the seventh time in eight months it has reached at least $130 million. It was also 15.2% higher than the $118.7 million claimed in July 2021. The overall gaming revenue of $480.7 million was 19.7% higher compared to June and a 6.7% improvement on last year’s total of $450.6 million.
The state collected close to $46 million in taxes, with iGaming accounting for $20.5 million of that amount and casinos supplying close to $19.6 million. The state treasury has received nearly $293 million in taxes for the year, with iGaming the biggest levy provider at $142.8 million.
Table games revenue soared to over $83.1 million for July, a high for 2022 that was 43.2% more than June and the highest for any month since $83.8 million was claimed in July 2019. Year-to-date table games revenue has totaled $432.9 million, 14.7% higher than the first seven months of 2021.
There was also a sharp increase in slot revenue, with the $215.8 million reported a 26.2% increase from June. It was also the first time since last July that slot revenue surpassed $200 million in a month, as the year-over-year increase was a more pedestrian 5.5%.
The Borgata paced the nine brick-and-mortar casinos with more than $76.7 million in revenue, a jump of 41.4% from June’s $54.3 million. Hard Rock was a distant second at $52.9 million, an increase of 18.7%. The Borgata and Hard Rock were two of four venues to show year-over-year increases in revenue, with Ocean Resorts improving 33.2% to $40.4 million and Bally’s gaining 3.5% to $16.8 million.
Of the five casinos that posted year-over-year declines, Harrah’s had the worst falloff of 9% to $26.4 million.
Sportsbook operators reported an 8.5% hold for July, their best mark against New Jersey’s betting public since a 9.1% win rate last November. Just over half of operator revenue came from parlays, totaling $22.9 million from $126.7 million handle for an 18.1% hold. It also marked the 11th consecutive month New Jersey sportsbooks claimed at least $20 million in parlay revenue.
Revenue from baseball wagers was a record $10.4 million, which with $236.3 million wagered meant a 4.4% hold. The public has held its own this season when it comes to baseball wagering in the Garden State, limiting the house to $25.1 million from $664.2 million for a 3.8% win rate.
Despite July’s uptick in revenue, the $353.7 million claimed by operators for 2022 is 16.5% lower compared to the first seven months of 2021. The 5.6% win rate is nearly two full percentage points off from 2021, more than offsetting a 15.4% rise in handle to more than $6.3 billion, a figure which trails only New York’s $9.4 billion.
Brick-and-mortar sportsbooks contributed slightly less than $2.2 million of the overall revenue, with Borgata’s retail book taking another pounding and finishing more than $910,000 in the red for the month. For retail wagering, the Borgata has paid out over $5.2 million more than handle accepted thus far this year.
The Meadowlands, home to FanDuel, PointsBet, and SuperBook online skins, accounted for a combined $22.9 million in revenue in July and has surpassed $900 million in all-time revenue since online wagering became available in August 2018. The Borgata‘s online skins, which include its own and BetMGM, have picked up the slack for its retail woes, claiming $5.3 million in revenue for July and $44.5 million for the year.
The Borgata led all venues in iGaming revenue with $43 million, a 17.9% increase compared to July 2021 that also edged out May’s $42.6 million haul for a new all-time monthly high. The $42.4 million in revenue excluding poker rake is also an all-time monthly high.
Golden Nugget Online was a strong second at $34.5 million, though the figure was also a year low and 3.3% decline from June’s $35.7 million. It was still a 3.1% increase compared to last year. Resorts Digital placed third at $30.5 million, the fourth time in eight months it cleared $30 million while posting a 30.8% year-over-year gain. Caesars was the only other venue reaching eight figures with an all-time monthly high of $10.9 million, improving 7.2% on its 2021 total of $10.2 million.
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