New Jersey’s rapidly growing online gambling industry posted record revenue during for March, 2017. That success, in turn, boosted the overall revenue of Atlantic City casinos, just like the system was supposed to work in the first place.
The good news from the Garden State was released on Wednesday by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) in their monthly revenue report.
Overall, New Jersey online gambling revenue was up a whopping 40 percent over March 2016. That translates into $21.7 million dollars, compared to just $15.5 million last March.
The big winner on the online side of the NJ casino industry was the Golden Nugget, which took in more than $6 million from its online operations.
In terms of overall growth, Resorts Digital saw the most movement. The tiny operation posted $4.2 million in March this year compared to just $1.8 million last month. That’s an increase of 123 percent, according to a report in the Las Vegas Sun.
On the land-based side of the casino business, things were looking similarly bright. The Atlantic City casinos posted $200.1 million in revenue last month. That’s an increase of 6.7 percent over the previous year.
The seven remaining land-based casinos definitely benefited from decreased competition since the closing of the Trump Taj Mahal last year.
Many in the Jersey political and gambling worlds saw March’s big numbers as vindication of their plan to use online gambling to boost Atlantic City casino revenues.
Matt Levinson, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission told the Sun:
When coupled with the very strong earnings report that came out last week, it’s clear that casinos have started to grow the market and increase their profits. That is generating a lot of positive interest in Atlantic City and has already attracted significant new investment in this market.
Overall, New Jersey online gambling revenue is up 32 percent in the first three months of 2017.