ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — New Jersey’s booming sports betting industry took a big hit in June, with revenue down nearly 24% from a year ago, but some casino executives and observers chalked it up to simple bad luck.
For the month of June as a whole, combined revenue from sports betting, Internet gambling and in-person casino games increased 7.4% to more than $491 million, according to statistics released Tuesday by state gambling regulators.
New Jersey was the state that challenged federal laws banning sports betting across much of the country, resulting in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2018 paving the way for all states that want to offer legal sports betting.
Since then, New Jersey has become one of the nation’s leading states in sports betting revenue.
But in June, sports betting generated $27.1 million in revenue after winning bets and other expenses, out of a total of $748 million wagered, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
That’s a 23.9% decrease from June 2023, an unusually large drop for a state accustomed to sports betting revenues rising in one direction — a straight line.
“At first glance, the nearly 24 percent decline in sports betting revenue for Atlantic City casino operators is a bit surprising given the sector’s recent strong performance,” said Jane Bochnewicz, director of Stockton University’s Lloyd Levenson Institute, which studies Atlantic City’s gambling market.
But she noted that not all casinos and racetracks saw a drop in betting, adding that total bets for the month were actually a bit higher than the June average.
“The decline in sports betting revenue in June of this year is likely a result of odds set by oddsmakers, public betting and live events,” she said. “After all, there will always be some volatility inherent in gambling activity.”
Mark Giannantonio, president of the Resorts & Casinos and New Jersey Casino Association, was among industry insiders who said the decline in sports betting revenue in June was down to “mostly bad luck.”
Sports betting revenue at Resorts Digital, the casino’s online division that partners with DraftKings Sportsbook, fell 43.3% to $14.3 million in June. Resorts’ brick-and-mortar sports betting revenue fell 34% to just over $99,000.
Ocean Casino’s sports betting revenue fell from $82,000 in June of last year to a loss of $18,725 in June of this year.
And Monmouth Park Racetrack, near the Jersey Shore in Oceanport, saw sports betting revenue fall 37% to $904,000.
Other casinos also beat expectations with June sports betting revenue. Bally’s brought in nearly $1.9 million, up more than 440% from $351,000 a year ago, while Hard Rock nearly doubled its June sports betting revenue to $4.6 million.
Overall gambling revenue was up 5.7% at Borgata to $110 million, up nearly 20% at Golden Nugget to $64.2 million, Hard Rock up 24.4% to $63.7 million, down 0.4% at Ocean to $39.6 million, up 30.7% at Tropicana to $38.5 million, up more than 27% at Bally’s to $24.6 million, down more than 11% at Caesars to $19.2 million, down 8.8% at Harrah’s to $19.1 million and down 2.3% at Resorts to $15 million.
But those figures also include internet and sports betting revenue, much of which must be shared with stakeholders such as sportsbooks and technology platforms and cannot be kept solely by the casinos.
As a result, casinos consider the money they make from visitors to be their main business. Only two casinos, Ocean and Hard Rock, made more money from visitors than they did in June 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. This continues to be a concern for Atlantic City casinos and their parent companies.
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