iDEA GROWTH Report Projects 50% Increase for Onlne Gaming in NJ

New Jersey’s online gaming industry has been reporting better numbers year in and year out for years now. The industry is expected to grow by over 50% in 2019 alone.

Online Gambling Continues to Grow in New Jersey

Since online gambling has been up and running in New Jersey, the Garden State, has added 1,851 jobs a new survey by iDEA Growth has revealed. The industry brought the state estimated $52.3 million in taxes last year, the association reported.

Spanning a longer period, the survey estimates that tax revenue generated between 2013 and 2018 amounts to $259.3 million with a total of 6,552 jobs created since then and $401.0 million paid out to employees in wages.

iDEA Growth also focused on the new attempts to keep everything above aboard, commending the efforts of the Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) to provide consumers with better level of protection.

NJDGE boss David Rebuck has warned operators and affiliates in the state to avoid associating with any offshore operators.

If such association existed, Mr. Rebuck explained, all parties involved would need to explain the risks of visiting and playing at an unregulated venue as opposed to a New Jersey-based website.

iDEA Growth founder Jeff Ifrah had the following to say:

“The results of this report demonstrate the economic, regulatory and consumer safeguard wins that mobile gaming and betting offers a state. 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.”

Does Your State Want More Tax Dollars?

Commenting on the good that has come out of online gaming, Ifrah argued in favor of mobile betting. States simply had to ask themselves if they needed more tax dollars and what they would do, implying that mobile and online gaming were the surest way to secure additional revenue for the public purse.

iDEA Growth also considered the growth of the gaming industry as a whole. While some have expressed concerns about the land-based industry, the association seems confident the online industry will continue to develop.

In 2018, gaming grew by 23.4% to $299.1 million, but this number is expected to increase by at least 50% in 2019. In terms of Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), New Jersey reported $299.1 million in 2018, or a 21.6%.

This number is expected to hit $452 million in 2019, a significant growth year-over-year. Sports betting has been clearly the leading driver of these positive changes. To put things in perspective, the iDEA report revealed that in its first year of operation, the online gaming industry accounted for only $8.4 million in 2013.

Not least of all, iGaming GGR is finally becoming a more substantial part of the overall results generating by the gambling industry in New Jersey.

With a continuous steady growth, online gaming in New Jersey is definitely doing quite well, but it still needs to do a lot of catching up to its land-based counterpart.