New Jersey Gaming Market Enjoys Bumper February As iGaming Growth Continues
Despite minimal movement in hotel casinos and a 10.3% decline in sportsbook revenue, New Jersey posted a 7.4% gaming revenue rise in February.
The $520.8million monthly value brings the year-to-date total to $1.11billion, an increase of 6.6% compared to the same period in 2025.
The Garden State remains one of the largest gambling markets in the US.
However, developments in neighboring New York City have seen lawmakers reopen the question of whether to allow NJ casinos outside Atlantic City.
Sharp Rise In NJ Gaming Revenue
Total gaming revenue in New Jersey hit $520.8m in February. The figure is up 7.4% from 2025 and brings the year-to-date total to an impressive $1.11bn, up 6.6% compared to $1.04bn in 2025.
The state’s iGaming industry led the way once again in February. There are more than 30 New Jersey online casinos, all of which must have their servers in Atlantic City.
Those platforms, which include DraftKings, Caesars and BetMGM, raised a total of $251.8m for the month – up a massive 21.8% from 2025.
Year-to-date, the Garden State has seen $510.7m of online gambling revenue, up 18.9% year-on-year.
Along with Delaware, New Jersey was one of the first states to regulate online casinos in 2011. Since then, iGaming has continued to grow in importance, overtaking retail casino revenue in October 2024.
Today, it is one of just seven states with regulated markets, and its monthly revenue is surpassed only by Michigan. In January, the two states combined to help nationwide iGaming figures reach $921m.
Casinos Could Open Outside Atlantic City
While iGaming has overtaken retail casino revenue, New Jersey’s brick-and-mortar casinos still play a significant role in the state’s gaming market.
In February, the state’s nine retail casinos, all of which are in Atlantic City, posted $202.9m of revenue. The figure was down 0.3% from last year’s $203.5m.
Despite this marginal slide, year-to-date revenue stands at $416.2m, representing a modest 0.7% increase from 2025.
New York’s decision to grant three new city casino licenses has clearly worried state lawmakers.
Concurrent Senate and House bills have been tabled and aim to open up the state’s casino gambling laws to allow venues to open outside Atlantic City.
In particular, Monmouth Park Racetrack wants to expand its current racetrack, which has included a Caesars Sportsbook since last year, to incorporate casino gambling.
The matter is especially pressing for the venue as the Citi Field development in Queens will be situated just 20 miles away.
Historically, there has been little public support to expand the state’s casino licenses, and Atlantic City officials strongly opposed the plans.
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Slump In Sports Betting
While Philadelphia is located in Pennsylvania, only the Delaware River separates it from Camden and other New Jersey cities.
Accordingly, last year’s Super Bowl final, which saw the Philadelphia Eagles triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs, still attracted a lot of attention.
With no local or nearby interest in this year’s final, New Jersey’s sports betting market struggled to match last year’s figure. Revenue was just $66m in February 2026, down 10.3% from 2025.
The monthly revenue is the lowest February figure in New Jersey in the last five years.
Across all markets, gaming generated $74.8m in taxes. The state has raised $161.3m in taxes so far this year.
