New Jersey and Delaware i-gaming revenues below par

Jersey and Delaware have reported disappointing online gambling revenue results for June.

Along with Nevada, the two states currently represent the US’ entire regulated i-gaming industry.

On Monday figures published by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) evidenced that despite a 7% increase in user accounts, nearly every casino saw a fall in revenue compared to the previous month.

I-gaming revenues for June totalled $9,505,578 – a 9.17% decline from May’s $10.47m. All operators apart from the Golden Nugget – who made $710,635 in June, up from $99,686 last month – posted a loss.

Online poker in particular suffered with a decline of 9.92% since May, representing the third consecutive month that revenues have fallen.

The latest numbers mean that over the past three months online poker revenue has dropped 36.21%, although seasonal trends and the 2014 World Series of Poker have contributed.

Delaware has also reported that their online gambling revenues have fallen short of targets during the first fiscal year of its launch.

The state has generated $1.2m in revenues since the first lottery and table games were launched last April – far below the $5m anticipated by state regulators, who have now accordingly adjusted their projection for the fiscal year of 2015.

They forecast $3.3m in online gaming revenue instead, but this figure is still too little for the state to profit from online gambling this year.

Both states have seen ambitious predictions regarding the profitability of their young online markets squashed.

Recently the administration of Gov. Chris Christie in New Jersey admitted that it far overplayed its hand on online gambling by drastically overestimating the amount the state would bring in during the first year.

This led to much disappointment as unrealistic expectations set the bar far too high, but the US online gambling market has also been fraught with other problems.

Difficulties with payment, geo-location, confirming player ages and glitches with the technology have also sparked criticism and lent ammunition to opponents of i-gaming such as Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling.

Nevertheless, supporters remain confident that with time to develop the US i-gaming industry has the potential to flourish.