NJ’s Internet Gambling Revenues Soar To $80M In April

New Jersey’s big bet on online gambling has paid off, with revenues skyrocketing to a record $80 million in April.

Not surprisingly, sports gambling revenues were way down as stadiums remained closed and most professional games were canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Meanwhile, the state’s casinos remained shuttered.

New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement said the state’s licensed online gambling operators generated a combined income of $80 million in April. That’s up 118.6 percent compared to the same month the previous year, the agency said in a prepared statement.

Those revenues were up nearly $15 million from March, as gamblers switched gears to put their money on what venues were available. April was the first full month that Atlantic City’s casinos were entirely shuttered, as they were open for a couple of weeks in March.

Sports betting collapsed in April to $2.6 million, down from $21.2 million the same month the previous year. Total gaming revenue was also way down, dropping to $82.6 million from $265.4 million the same period the previous year.

The revenues from slot machines, table games and casinos fell to zero, down from $207.6 million in April the previous year, with the casinos shuttered. Meanwhile, online poker revenues more than tripled year on year, reaching $5.15 million.

With total gaming revenues way down, what can gambling venues and the state of New Jersey, which collects taxes from them, do to boost business? One strategy would be to speed up the disbursements of winnings. As reported by PYMNTS, online bettors are not likely to be satisfied with the current approaches, such as mailed paper checks.

The U.S. government has faced similar issues when disbursing stimulus payments to millions of Americans as part of economic relief packages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Feds, along with the gambling industry, are dealing with infrastructure and regulatory hurdles that stall their ability to offer instant disbursements at scale.

The PYMNTS Disbursements Tracker offers up-to-date information on the changes and trends in digital disbursements.