Borgata Continues to Lead Both Land-Based and Online Casino Revenues
New Jersey’s online gambling industry saw its first monthly decline in April, falling to $11.4 million. The decline was expected by some industry insiders, because April had one less day than March.
The average online take per day dipped from $383,173 in March to $380,958 in April, so the drop indicates a real decline. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has shown month-to-month increases since legal online gambling began in November 2013. In the early months of 2014, the revenues increased by significant amounts.
New Jersey online gambling revenues increased 28% in January of this year, then continued upward by 9% in February, and peaked with another 15% increase in March. April 2014 is the first time for any sort of dip.
Gaming executives are quick to point out that it is unwise to read too deeply into a marginal one-month decline. If a high roller has a good month playing blackjack, baccarat, or craps, it can change the numbers for a land-based casino. The same can be said for the entire online gambling industry of New Jersey at this point. The winnings remain relatively small in comparison to what the Atlantic City land casinos are doing.
Joe Lupo Explains the Challenges for Startups
Despite the disappointing figures, Borgata Hotel & Casino SVP Joe Lupo says he expects revenues to increase in the coming months. At the moment, the various licensed gaming platforms do not work with 3G and 4G smartphones. That technical drawback is going to be solved in the coming months, which should lead to an uptick in signups.
As the year passes, Lupo expects to see more and better electronic payment methods. More web wallets should become available later in 2014, and the people who use these e-wallets exclusively might give Atlantic City online casinos a try. Credit card payments should become more efficient, as well. Over the first 5 months of the legal iGaming in New Jersey, only 44% of credit card deposits have worked. If that percentage increases significantly, people who use the number one payment method are more likely to gamble online.
When asked about the multiple trouble spots in the New Jersey online gaming rollout, Lupo said, “It simply takes time when launching a new business.”
Good Weather May Have Hurt Revenues
The regulators and gaming executives who analyze the stats have not come to a consensus on why the revenues declined. Matt Levinson of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission says the decline could be due to difficulties people have trying to fund their accounts. When engaging in a hobby, the easier it is to play, the less likely it is gamblers will get frustrated and find other entertainment. Levinson also said that the warmer weather might have caused some gamblers to go to the brick-and-mortar casinos.
Levinson explained, “Maybe when the weather was nice, the laptops got closed and people decided to come down to Atlantic City.”
Some gamblers might be more money-conscious in the month of April, because of the IRS income tax deadline on April 15. While some gamblers who filed early are likely to be receiving their tax returns in April, everyone is a little more mindful of the income tax they must pay, while self-employed individuals are often writing big checks to the government. Online advertising revenues, such as those from the Google Adsense program, dips most years in the month of April.
Leaders in Revenue
Borgata Online continues to lead the Atlantic City casinos. Borgata has collected $16.4 million in revenues in 2014.
Caesars Interactive is second among the New Jersey iGaming operations with $13.1 million for the year. Tropicana Online is third with $6.2 million throughout 2014, while the Trump casino sites continue to range from $2 million to $2.7 million on the year.
Total Revenues for Atlantic City Casinos
The combined offline and online revenues increased by 3.2% in April 2014 in comparison to the same month in 203. The total revenues collected by Atlantic City casinos in April were $235.9 million.
The comparison excludes the Atlantic Club, which closed this last January. If one includes last year’s numbers for the Atlantic Club, the city’s casinos saw a revenue decline of 1.8%.
Revel Casino had the biggest gain of the month. Revel Casino was up 55%, as its numbers increased from $8 million in March to $12.5 million in April. Borgata Casino & Hotel continues to lead all Atlantic City casinos with $49 million in revenues. Caesars Atlantic City had $34 million, while Tropicana was up 6.4% to $21.9 million.
