After the United States Supreme Court removed the ban on legal gambling in 2018, one of the states that took advantage of the new law was New Jersey. The top performance of the Garden States in almost all areas of gambling is testimony to the hard work that was put into stabilizing this industry. Apart from NJ being a model state for new gambling laws adoption, it was also a role model for other markets to emulate.
Revenue reports on the online gaming markets for the first half of 2022 are out and there is obvious competition between Michigan and New Jersey. Based on the reports published on various sections of the media, it appears that the performance gap between Michigan and New Jersey is gradually reducing and Michigan might soon outrank New Jersey as the most vibrant gaming market in the country.
What we cover
What is contained in the revenue reports?
According to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the betting industry in NJ generated well above $814 million from casino sites and online poker operations within the first 6 months of the year. In the state of Michigan, the Gaming Control Board generated more than $757 million in earnings from iGaming.
After the gambling revenue per capita had been adjusted, it was clear that Michigan gained $75.31 while New Jersey had $87.89 to show for their effort. It is important to note that the population of New Jersey, which is 9.2 million, is slightly below the 10 million people in the Wolverine State. Having began gambling activities in 2013, way before the rest of the country received a green light from the Supreme Court; New Jersey is quite established. Michigan’s gambling industry is still quite new, having launched in January 2021.
A sports editor affiliated with OddsSeekers, Frank Weber, commented on what appeared to be Michigan’s road to be the top US market considering the year-over-year growth trajectory. Since the New Jersey Market was launched, the yearly growth has been quite encouraging but there is a competitor in the horizon. The momentum with which Michigan’s revenue chart is climbing is an indication that the state is soon going to pass New Jersey in online gambling revenues and go on to become the largest and most important betting and iGaming market in the whole of America.
Operator Breakdown Performance
Information shared in the report indicates that the top casino operator in New Jersey and Michigan is BetMGM. Following closely to take up the second position is BetRivers of Michigan but they alternate this spot with Caesars of NJ. The third and fourth positions are occupied by DraftKings and FanDuel of the Garden State while on the Michigan side the slots are taken by Caesars and DraftKings.
An important consideration to make is that there is a larger number of casino license holders in Michigan compared to New Jersey. There are currently eight casino operators that have active gaming licenses to operate in New Jersey, most of which run multiple skins. In the state of Michigan, there are tribal and commercial operators offering iGaming services. The Michigan gambling scene is made up of 3 commercial casinos situated in the Detroit area plus a total of 13 tribal casino operators.
In Michigan just like in New Jersey, the licensed operators have more than one skin in the gaming scene; each of these has different play options. As has been discussed above, both states treat their gambling fans to an online casino gaming experience through the big gambling players operating there.
Since it appears that Michigan is going to overtake New Jersey soon, it will be quite interesting to see how the different players in the two markets react to it. For now, the clock is ticking and it is only a matter of time before there is a new gambling market leader in the United States. It is expected that there is going to be a lull in earnings coming in the next few months and specifically towards the close of summer. If the current trend holds up, the wait will be quite short but the truth is that it could be many months before we see a major change in US iGaming market leaders.
The poker rooms and online casinos licensed to operate in Michigan managed to generate gross revenue of $107.6 million in November 2021 which is less than the $109.7 million that was achieved in the month of October. Actually, the revenues in the month of November grew on a daily basis to hit $3.59 million per day from the daily average of $3.54 million in the previous month.
The Michigan casinos offering their services over the internet as well as poker rooms in the state have in total generated $992.2 million in gross gaming revenue. This puts the state at the doorstep of $1 billion revenue mark for the year. The only other states in the US that have managed to achieve rarefied air over the course of a calendar year are Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Considering that Michigan is in its first year of gambling operations, this success will definitely pose as a challenge to other jurisdictions. Ramsey commends this success citing that Michigan has always had immense potential. The fact that it has managed to outdo two of the most successful gambling destinations in the country is something to be proud of.
Final Thoughts
Making it to the top of any list is relatively easy but the challenge is in maintaining the position. With every indication that Michigan is going to become more vibrant than New Jersey, it is about time that the Garden State operators reinvent their business strategy. Perhaps take a few lessons from Michigan because it appears that their business operations model is working.
