The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported a record $151.5 million in online casino operator revenue for December, capping another year of substantial revenue growth from the digital gaming discipline.
December’s figure was 3.6% higher than November’s $146.2 million and marked the third straight month over $145 million. It was also 13.7% higher than the $133.2 million reported to close out 2021. Internet casino revenue had not topped $140 million previously until February and did not reach that plateau again until October’s short-lived standard of $147.2 million was established. The non-online poker revenue of $149.3 million toppled the previous mark of $144.9 million in October.
The overall total of $1.66 billion in operator revenue for the calendar year was 21.6% higher than the $1.36 billion claimed in 2021 despite only one more website running in the comparable periods. Internet casino had nearly doubled from $482.7 million in 2019 to $931.5 million in 2020, aided by the COVID-19 pandemic during which Atlantic City casinos were closed, cementing its status as a reliable revenue stream for operator and state alike.
The state’s 15% levy on internet casino revenue resulted in $22.8 million in tax receipts for December, lifting the total for the year to about $600,000 shy of $250 million. That is $44.1 million more than 2021 and $103.6 million more than 2020.
Traditional casino revenue from Atlantic City’s nine venues totaled more than $215.6 million in December, up 0.5% from the $214.5 million reaped in November. It was also a 1.8% improvement on the $211.8 million in the final month of 2021.
When including the $87.7 million in sports wagering operator revenue for December, the overall gaming revenue total of $454.8 million was 3.1% better than November. It was also 12.5% higher than December 2021, with the 48.5% year-over-year increase in sports wagering revenue amounting to just shy of $28.7 million.
Resorts, Caesars bumps fuel rise to record revenue
Interestingly, Borgata was the only online casino to have a month-over-month decline, though its $43.7 million still paced all operators. Resorts had the biggest month-over-month surge, gaining more than $3 million to surpass $40 million for the first time. Its $39.8 million in non-poker casino revenue was $1 million more than its previous record of $38.8 million in October.
The other increase of at least $1 million among operators originated through Caesars, whose $9.6 million in revenue for December was a $1.5 million improvement from November and its best month since a record $10.9 million generated in July. Caesars also cleared $10 million in poker rake for the calendar year, claiming $755,000 in the final month of 2022.
Tropicana rounded out the podium spots for month-over-month increases by amount, with its lone website, William Hill, gaining $446,000 from November to $5.9 million. In the six months with a lone online casino skin following Virgin Casino‘s migration to Bally’s, Tropicana totaled more than $33 million in revenue.
Bally’s, Hard Rock, and Ocean Resort also reported six-figure increases from November, with Bally’s uptick of $389,000 contributing to a monthly record of $5.2 million across its three skins. Hard Rock improved close to $307,000 to top $5.3 million, while Ocean Resort set a record for the third straight month with $3.5 million after failing to clear $3 million before doing so in October.
Borgata’s big December bounce leads to uptick
Only three of Atlantic City’s casinos had revenue gains from November, but the $8.4 million in increased revenue from Borgata, Hard Rock, and Bally’s combined was enough to offset the declines from the other six venues.
Borgata had a 31.6% spike in table games revenue to $18.9 million in December, fueled by a rise of nearly four percentage points in win rate to 19.8% and a 5.1% increase in handle to $95.6 million. Its overall casino revenue of $60.5 million (when including poker rake) marked the seventh time in the final nine months of 2022 that it cleared $60 million.
Between table games and slots, $6.9 billion was wagered at the Borgata in 2022, an increase of 21% compared to the $5.7 billion in table and slot drop from 2021. Borgata had a 21.5% year-over-year increase in slot drop to more than $5.8 billion, an impressive upswing considering there were 374 fewer positions available at the end of 2022 compared to the 2,857 that started the year.
Hard Rock reported a revenue rise of $2 million from November to nearly $37.5 million, also seeing a substantial rise in its table games win rate to 16.8%. It also had a $700,000 increase in slot revenue, with the 9.3% win rate there up more than a quarter of a percentage point to offset a small decline in drop.
Bally’s gain of $1.4 million in table games revenue in December easily absorbed the loss of close to $462,000 on the slots side. The hold on table games at Bally’s soared more than six full percentage points to 16.2%, its highest since the year-best 22.8% in September.
Overall table games revenue, however, plunged 13.8% to $45 million compared to the $52.2 million in 2021. Bally’s slots, though, provided a 23.1% bump to $108.9 million as slot drop increased 25.1% to $1.1 billion.
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