The country’s major online gaming states recently reported revenue for December and that included some major gains for the industry.
That included Pennsylvania reaching the $6 billion mark for the first time, major online gaming increases in New Jersey, and mixed results in Michigan. Here’s a look at each state.
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported a 25% increase in online gaming revenue over the previous year, with combined gaming revenue reaching a record high topping $6 billion mark for a calendar year for the first time. Combined 2024 revenue from all forms of gaming was more than $6.2 billion, a 7.7% increase from $5.7 billion in 2023.
The state achieved $2.7 billion in tax revenue, the highest amount ever, topping the $2.5 billion in 2023. iGaming reached $2.2 billion compared to $1.7 billion in 2023.
Additionally, December produced an all-time monthly high of $223.7 million for online gaming. The previous high was $200.5 million in November. Here’s a look at that by category:
- Online slots – $164.3 million (up 40.5%)
- Online table games – $56.9 million (up 24.2%
- Online poker – $2.5 million (up 2.9%)
For sports wagering, total handle was $893.4 million, a drop of 3.5% from December 2023, with taxable revenue of $21.9 million, a decrease of 69.9%. December revenue from all forms of gaming totaled $533.1 million, less than 1% below December 2023 and accounting for tax revenue of $223.7 million.
Online poker could get a boost, however, if and when the state joins the MSIGA shared online player pool.
New Jersey
Revenue for the Garden State’s live casinos totaled $231.8 million for December, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. That’s a decrease of 0.3% compared to $232.4 million reported in December 2023. For the year, revenue was $2.82 billion for 2024, a decrease of 1.1% from 2023.
Online gaming produced $228 million in December 2024, increasing 26.5% compared to $180.3 million for the same month in 2023. For the year, iGaming revenue totaled $2.39 billion, a jump of 24.1% from $1.92 billion for 2023.
Online poker reached $2.4 million, up 7.2% from $2.3 million in 2023. For the year, poker produced $28.5 million, falling 1.5%.
Sports wagering produced $62.8 million in gross revenue in December, a 42.6% decrease compared to $109.4 million in 2023. For the year, betting reached $1.09 billion, an 8.7% decrease from $1.01 billion in 2023.
Online gaming helped deliver a slight uptick to end the year. Total revenue from all forms of gaming was $522.6 million, a 0.1% increase from $522.2 million in December 2023. For the year, total revenue was $6.3 billion for 2024, up 9% from $5.78 billion in 2023.
In fact, in October online gaming numbers topped live casinos numbers from Atlantic City for the first time ever.
Michigan
Commercial and tribal operators reported a combined $264.2 million total in online gaming and sports betting gross receipts in December, dropping 7.1% from November, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board. Online casino gaming totaled $244 million, the highest to date and topping the previous record of $226 million in November. December gross sports betting receipts reached $20.2 million, however, falling from $58.3 million in November.
Combined total iGaming and online sports betting adjusted gross receipts (AGR) for December were $219.9 million, with $219.6 million from online casino and just $267,881 from sports betting. iGaming increased 34.5% and sports betting saw a massive decrease of 99.2% compared to December 2023. Overall sports betting handle reached $597.7 million, down 8.1% from $650.2 million in November 2024. Online operators submitted $46.1 million in taxes and payments in December.
For the year, the state saw a combined $2.9 billion total iGaming and sports betting gross receipts — $2.4 billion from online casino and $460.5 million from sports. This was a 23.8% increase over 2023. AGR reached $2.4 billion total, $2.2 billion from iGaming and $194.4 million for sports betting and a 22.3% increase over 2023. That led to $466.1 million in taxes and payments to the state. Tribal operators also reported making $55.3 million in payments to governing bodies in 2024.
