New Jersey's Influence to Be Felt Nationwide

The online gaming revenues for the state of New Jersey are in for the month of March, and the results are record smashing. Remaining on a trajectory to continue showing double digit revenue increases month over month, New Jersey online casinos are blowing away expectations. For the month of March, the combined efforts of all licensed online casino gambling operations produced an amazing $39,134,380 in revenues, beating the state's prior high by $5 million or close to 13%. 

According to the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), the number does not include revenues from online sport betting operations, which will be reported separately. Even though sports gambling revenues are not included, the influence of online sports gambling is very apparent. In cross betting platforms, more sports betting customers are showing a desire to jump over to an associated online casino for a few hours casino gambling.

According to a representative from the DGE, "Total revenues from both online gaming and sports betting were just under $70 million. The betting frenzy surrounding March Madness boosted sports betting to $32 million, $24.2 million of which came from online operations." That's very much in line with estimates that figure online sports betting is currently accounting for approximately 75% of all sports betting activities. 

The real losers in all of this excitement are the online poker rooms that experiencing a significant loss in revenues. It's hard to determine how much of the prior poker action is being siphoned off by online sports books and casinos. 

As the first state to truly go all-in on all forms of land-based and online gambling operations, it's a good bet that the state's inspiring results will motivate other states to get off the fence and start looking at passing its own sports and online gambling legislation. 

Given the results, it looks like New Jersey's state leaders did most everything the right way. The approach and the legislation used to put everything into motion will likely serve as a model for other states to follow.

There are currently 12 states that have legalized sports betting and at least 6 states that have legalized some form of online gambling. With an absolute interest in raising tax and licensing fee revenues, it looks like as many as 20 states could move forward and legalize sports and online gambling for it residents by the end of the year with more to follow in 2020.