The most recent figures have been released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement on the burgeoning online gaming scene in the Garden State. While there is plenty that can be viewed as “good” for the industry, there were some dips in the numbers that might be concerning.
Overall, the DGE reported that the total revenues from the sites in the full online casino gaming industry were $10.3 million. Considering that February is an abbreviated month, those figures had to please gaming officials (and some politicians) as, if extended out for a full calendar year, it would mean that the industry is bringing in somewhere around $120 million. That figure, for a first year operation, would be roughly in the middle of what some pessimists predicted but short of the windfall that Governor Chris Christie envisioned when passing the online gaming legislation.
What has been driving New Jerseyites to the online arena hasn’t been poker, however. The Borgata, which teamed up with partypoker for their full gaming platform, reported that their casino gaming has been growing exponentially while poker has slowed down. Of the over $4 million that Borgata/party brought in, $3.1 million was through their casino services; about $1.5 million of their revenues were generated by the poker tables.
The February numbers were quite pleasing for Boyd Gaming Chief Executive Officer Keith Smith. “We have strived to create a first-in-class online gaming experience worthy of the Borgata brand,” Smith stated in a press release following the DGE’s revenues announcement. “(That) is clearly resonating with players across the state of New Jersey.”
Chasing down Borgata/party in the online poker wars is Caesars Entertainment, who have used two sites (WSOP.com and 888) to bank their revenues. Their overall numbers were over $3.3 million, but they also saw a slip in their online poker revenues. Of their grand total, $1.45 million was brought in by poker, but that is good enough to keep them in contention with Borgata/party as these two “big dogs” fight for supremacy in New Jersey.
The remainder of the New Jersey online gaming scene are, at best, problematic. The Trump Plaza/Betfair combo and the Trump Taj Mahal/Ultimate Gaming team are lagging far behind the leaders in the industry, with Trump/Betfair only pulling in around $500,000 with their casino and virtually nothing from their poker room ($7 for the month of February). The Taj Mahal/Ultimate pairing has steadily gone downhill since their opening in November as their casino gaming lagged behind their poker offering.
In looking at these numbers, it is easy to see that players are going with name recognition over some of the new actors on the stage. Borgata’s partnership with the established partypoker brand clearly put them into the lead in the early action, while Caesars’ usage of the WSOP marketing name has kept them near the top of the ladder. Although Betfair is a highly recognizable name in European online gaming (and in U. S. horse racing), it hasn’t translated to success in the New Jersey online gaming wars. Ultimate Gaming, still in its infancy as a company, has a long road to hoe in New Jersey to build their brand.
What will be intriguing over the next couple of months is the usual “seasonal decline” that is often seen in online poker and, as a side effect, online gaming. As spring arrives and summer is on the doorstep, players will step away from their computers to enjoy the warming weather. This normally brings a drop in players (and revenues) and is something that has to be looked at as New Jersey’s online gaming scene enters into that particular occurrence.
