2024 was a groundbreaking year for New Jersey’s gaming industry, marking a historic high with $6.3 billion in revenue. This milestone reflects not only the resilience of traditional gaming markets but also the surging popularity of iGaming, which has emerged as a dominant force in the state.
The rapid growth of online gambling has redefined the gambling sphere, setting new records and challenging the once-monopolized industry of land-based casinos. Innovations such as no deposit free spins and free spins offers, many of which are brought to players by FreeSpinsTracker.com, have drawn gamblers to the convenience and variety offered by digital platforms.
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The January 2025 Report
The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General published a press release on January 16, 2025, detailing the month of December 2024’s revenues across casino hotel properties, Internet Gaming Win revenues, and Sports Wagering gross revenues.
Compared to the same period the previous year, land-based casinos were down 1.1% to $2.82B for the year, sports wagering was up for the year, by 8.7% to $1.09B, and internet gaming was up a whopping 24.1% for the year to $2.39B.
This growth, particularly in internet gaming, has boosted revenues to a new high of $6.3B, up 9% overall from 2023’s reported $5.78B. Under the Division of Gaming Enforcement, designed to regulate the casino gaming industry, operators are required to comply with legislation set out in the New Jersey Casino Control Act, as well as all other relevant state and federal regulations. This includes monthly reporting to the authorities, which is then published online for public knowledge.
New Jersey:The Garden or Gambling State?
New Jersey has always been a leader when it comes to gambling within the state. As many people around the country, and even the world, would be aware, Atlantic City is a massive destination for casino gambling and has been so since the 1970s.
The state was also a key figure in the fight to overturn the federal PASPA legislation in the Supreme Court. Overturning PASPA (The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992) was a key moment in legalizing sports betting throughout the United States, making it a state-based legislation issue, rather than a federal concern. New Jersey was fully prepared to launch sports betting almost immediately when PASPA was overturned, leading to a fast turnaround and near-instantly growing revenues.
Back in 2013, New Jersey became the second state to legalize online casino gambling, following closely behind Delaware. Being leaders in the space has paid off for the state, with their eye-watering revenues now being a compelling case for the legalization of online gambling for other states that haven’t yet made the leap. Currently, the proposed legislation is on the table for both Maryland and Virginia. In these outlined legislations, there are provisions for casino owners already operating in other states to be speed-lined for approval in licensing.
A Comparison of Revenues
For a bit of comparison, you can easily look at the gross gambling revenues across traditional casinos, sports betting, and online casino gaming across the entire United States. In November 2024, gross gambling revenues, as reported by the American Gaming Association, stood at $6.65B for the month. Considering that there are 49 other states in the USA, that New Jersey managed to pull in almost a full month’s worth of revenues for the country in a year is fairly astounding.
So, What Does The Future Hold?
Currently, Bill S3064 has been Introduced in the Senate and referred to the State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee, as of August 2024. This new bill proposed to increase the tax on internet casino gaming and internet sports wagering to 30 percent, instead of the current 15% and 13% taxes imposed on these operations currently within the state.
The state currently has some of the lowest taxation rates for these income-generating activities across the nation. For instance, in New York, the state imposes a staggering 51% tax on online sports betting revenues. While this makes New Jersey an appealing state for setting up online gambling operations, many within the government say that some extra revenues for the state’s coffers should be imposed.
As revenues continue to climb for online gambling, states will continue to jostle for their part of the action, and their part of the takings. While NJ has been quick to act in the legalization of gambling operations, their reluctance to touch the tax types for these operations could be seen by some as a bit out of touch. With a boost of a proposed extra 15% in taxation that would go back into the state itself, taking a closer look at tax rates in this booming state is a no-brainer for politicians looking to please their constituents.
