Internet Gaming Helping New Jersey Casinos Grow
In the face of years of decline, casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, have turned the corner with steady increases for over a year. The trend continued during the first quarter of 2016, and this is great news for Garden State casinos after the state saw several closings of casinos in 2014 and has been presented with increasing competition from surrounding states.
According to the March 2016 Gaming Revenue Results report released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, casino revenue in Atlantic City as a whole grew from $579.9 million in the first quarter of 2015 to $598 million in the first quarter of 2016. That's an increase of 3.1 percent.
While much of the growth was due to the regulated internet casinos, land-based casinos also showed signs of stability with revenues increasing by 1.5 percent from $544.7 million in the first quarter of 2015 to $552.9 million in the first quarter of 2016. This was primarily due to a 2.2-percent increase in slots revenue from $377.7 million in the first three months of 2015 to $386 million in the same period this year.
Casinos didn't perform as well in March when compared to the first two months of the quarter. Overall, revenues declined by 0.4 percent from $203.9 million in March 2015 to $203 million in March 2016, while land-based casino revenue declined a slightly bigger 1.7 percent from $190.7 million in March 2015 to $187.5 million in March 2016.
Internet Revenue On the Rise in New Jersey
In some jurisdictions, ring-fenced internet gaming revenues experienced steady declines in revenue since the introduction of regulated gaming. France has been the most notorious of the bunch, with steady declines since introducing regulated online gaming in 2011. The country is considering to share liquidity with other markets to reverse the trend.
However, this is not the case in New Jersey, where things are getting rosier for online gaming operators. Internet gaming revenues in the Garden State have increased by an impressive 27.7 percent quarter over quarter, from $35.1 million in the first three months of 2015 to $44.9 million during the same period this year.
Certainly PokerStars introducing games in New Jersey last month helped the cause. The increase in March was 17.8 percent from $13.2 million in March 2015 to $15.5 million in March 2016.
*Image courtesy of choicehotels.com.
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