Gambling Industry Booms in New Jersey
By Space Coast Daily // May 13, 2021
Florida’s lawmakers are currently weighing up the pro-and-cons of doing a deal with the state’s tribal casino concerns to potentially introduce legalized sports betting and online casino wagering to the Sunshine State.
Meanwhile, already legal states like New Jersey are quietly making millions of dollars in revenue of to boost their state’s coffers, fill in global pandemic black holes, and fund a number of infrastructure projects, programs and services for their residents.
It’s been a spectacular success story. New Jersey’s online casino and sports bettors have leaped at the opportunity to gamble online in the wake of the global pandemic, as bricks-and-mortar casino and sportsbooks were forced to shut their doors for health reasons. The pandemic may have simply sped up a trend that had already begun and was ready to boom, however, it seems there is no going back now.
Looking at the latest complete monthly numbers from the Garden State gaming regulator, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (the NJDGE), more than 90% of all casino or sports bets were placed online in New Jersey during March 2021. The revenue raised from all wagers (online casino plus sports betting revenue) in New Jersey topped out at an incredible $174.4 million! Individually, the revenue of online casinos in New Jersey was up 75.4% year-on-year, while sports betting revenue increased an astonishing 361% over the same period.
New Jersey’s Success Inspires Other States Like Michigan to follow
Seeing the success story of the New Jersey model, Michigan also launched their online casino and sports wagering industry in late-January. Picking up on the Garden State’s model, the Wolverine State also chose their own regulatory authority, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (the MGCB) to oversee licensing, and regulation. It’s still early days for Michigan, however, their numbers are encouraging. In only their second full month of wagering – $127.4 million of revenue raised in March 2021.
Florida lawmakers, sit up and take notice. In the United States, Michigan and New Jersey are 10th and 11th in terms of state populations. Here in Florida, we sit in 4th place, with around 2.5x more residents.
Imagine what legalized online gaming could do for the Sunshine State’s bottom line!
