Gambling revenue in New Jersey increased 4.4% year-on-year in August, helped by a record performance by the Garden State’s igaming market.

Total revenue for August reached $555.1m (£420.0m/€498.7m). This is ahead of $531.6m in New Jersey last August and also 1.3% more than $547.8m in July this year.

Without doubt, the stand-out figure for New Jersey in August was igaming revenue. Here, revenue jumped 27.8% year-on-year to $198.4m – a new monthly record for the state.

This includes $196.0m in internet slots revenue, an increase of 28.2%. On the other hand, online peer-to-peer remained level at $2.4m for the month.

Golden Nugget was again the leading master licensee in the igaming market. Skins operating via its licence, which in addition to Golden Nugget are FanDuel, Betway and BetRivers, generated $55.0m in revenue.

However, as was the case in July, DraftKings was the leading igaming operator. It posted $43.2m in online casino revenue, ahead of FanDuel on $41.3m. Another brand of note was Fanatics, which hit a record high of $2.6m in revenue.

Not so good news for sports betting

Turning now to sports betting – the only sector of the market to see revenue fall in August. In total, revenue amounted to $62.7m, some 34.7% lower than the previous year.

Player spending on sports betting topped $698.8m, down 3.7% from last year. Of this total, $666.3m was bet online and $32.5m at retail sportsbooks across the state.

This equates to a total market hold of 9.0% for the month, well below July’s 12.3%.

As to who led the market, Meadowlands led the master licensees with $25.0m in revenue. The racecourse is partnered with FanDuel.

In terms of actual operators, FanDuel was once again the frontrunner, posting $24.2m for August. DraftKings placed second on $15.5m, with BetMGM a distant third at $4.5m. 

What happened elsewhere in New Jersey?

Land-based casinos remain the primary source of gambling revenue in New Jersey. The $294.0m generated in August is 4.9% higher than last year. 

Slot machine revenue climbed 5.3% to $221.6m and table games’ revenue increased 3.8% to $72.4m.

Borgata is still New Jersey’s leading land-based casino with $74.2m in revenue in August. Its nearest challenger was Hard Rock on $55.4m for the month.

New Jersey on track for record year

Looking at the state’s year-to-date figures, total market revenue for the eight months to the end of August was $4.16bn. This is 10.5% ahead of the same point last year.

Online gaming revenue for this period is 22.7% higher at $1.52bn, driven by a 23.2% rise in slots revenue. Poker, on the other hand, declined 3.5%.

Sports betting revenue for that period jumped 19.7% to $715.8m, despite August’s decline. However, land-based casinos revenue was down 0.2% to $1.92bn following falls across both slot machines and table games.