New Jersey’s online gambling industry created 1,851 jobs in the state and brought in $52.3m in taxes in 2018, according to a new report from iDEA Growth, the iDevelopment and Economic Association.
Between 2013, when online casino launched in New Jersey, and 2018, the igambling industry brought in $259.3 million in tax and created 6,552 jobs, worth $401.0m in wages, iDEA’s figures suggest
The report also said that regulated online gambling in New Jersey has been a great success for consumer protection by bringing a previously offshore industry onshore from a gray market into a structured environment.
“The results of this report demonstrate the economic, regulatory and consumer safeguard wins that mobile gaming and betting offers a state,” Jeff Ifrah, founder of iDEA Growth, said. “80% of sports betting wagers are already placed on mobile devices or online. When bets are done legally and in the proper regulatory framework, everyone wins.
“For the many states considering whether to legalize mobile betting and gaming, the question to ask is, ‘What could your state do with more tax dollars?’
“The additional revenue gained from mobile gaming can be earmarked for important state initiatives.”
In addition, the report notes that the online gambling industry has grown at a rate of 23.4% per year to $299.1m in 2018 and is projected to increase by more than 50% for 2019.
Online gambling gross gaming revenue (GGR) for 2018 amounted to $299.1m, up 21.6% year-on-year. The industry has already exceeded that GGR figure for 2019, bringing in $339m for the first nine months of the year and a projected $452m for the full twelve month period.
The growth of online sports betting in New Jersey has been a major reason for the increases in revenue for 2019. Since DraftKings became the first operator to take online sports bets in the Garden State on 1 August 2018, online sports betting has grown rapidly, with online sportsbook handle totalling $417.0m in October 2019, compared to $174.4m in the same month of 2018.
Despite its growth, the online gambling industry in New Jersey is still dwarfed by its land-based counterpart. The iDEA Growth report projects that overall gambling GGR in the state will exceed $3bn in 2019, meaning that land-based casinos will take in more than $2.5bn.