The numbers were incredible. Internet gaming revenue soared in April, per the latest numbers from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. While land-based casinos remained closed due to the coronavirus pandemic for the entire month of April, online casinos and sports betting options delivered much-needed revenue to the state.
Online poker and casino games saw revenue numbers that show the sectors’ importance and potential. Operators have worked hard for these numbers.
Overall, however, New Jersey had a dismal and worrisome month without a dime of land-based casino revenue.
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April 2020 Online Poker Revenue
Last month’s online poker numbers were impressive, but that only took into consideration a half month of casino shutdowns. With no live poker anywhere in April, online poker thrived. Poker operators also provided quite a few tournament options for their captive audience, even more incentive to play regularly.
While online poker revenue had been dropping fairly consistently for the past two years, the April numbers show what is possible. No one loves a pandemic, but the poker and internet gaming industry can’t help but love these numbers.
--April 2020 online poker win: $5,148,373--March 2020 online poker win: $3,629,112--April 2019 online poker win: $1,667,977--Month-on-month: 41.9% increase--Year-on-year: 208.7% increase
Online casino table games and slots had been a consistent source of growth for the New Jersey gambling market since its inception, and growth has been consistently in the 50% to 70% range month after month. But the removal of all live gambling options for New Jersey players gave them a taste of what is offered online, and the numbers show it.
--April 2020 online casino games win: $74,811,453--March 2020 online casino games win: $61,192,791--April 2019 online casino games win: $34,914,957--Month-on-month: 22.3% increase--Year-on-year: 114.3% increase
Total Internet Gaming Win for April 2020
Often, this number balances online casino games growth with online poker downswings. This month, however, both sectors worked together to deliver an incredibly encouraging number in an otherwise dismal April for New Jersey.
--April 2020 total internet gaming win: $79,959,826--March 2020 total internet gaming win: $64,821,903--April 2019 total internet gaming win: $36,582,934--Month-on-month: 23.4% increase--Year-on-year: 118.6% increase
Sports Betting in April 2020
This sector is still alive but barely keeping its footing. Sports betting does have online wagering options in New Jersey, but there have been no sports on which to bet. These numbers will likely remain low until professional sports teams return to the fields or the courts. When those games are scheduled, look for an immediate jump.
It should be safe to say that this was the worst month in gambling revenue since Atlantic City began to offer casino gambling. April brought in nothing, not one dollar of revenue.
It is unlikely that May will deliver anything different. While some parts of New Jersey society are reopening for business in the last weeks of April, the casinos are unlikely to be on that list of possibilities. Not only is social distancing and cleanliness difficult in that gaming environment, it is unclear if gamblers are ready to return to the casinos.
Meanwhile, sports wagering delivered a bit to the overall number, but the internet gaming sector delivered more than $82.5 million for the state in April.
--April 2020 total gaming revenue: $82,593,876--March 2020 total gaming revenue: $163,472,813--April 2019 total gaming revenue: $265,381,245--Month-on-month: 49.5% decrease--Year-on-year: 68.9% decrease
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