New Jersey’s online casinos are now doing more than carry the state’s gambling market: they are the only reason it is growing. Through the first nine months of 2026, internet gaming win rose by $279.5 million on the prior year. Total gaming revenue rose by $261.2 million. Take iGaming out, and the rest of the market is collectively smaller than it was a year ago.
September made the point plainly. Figures published by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) on 19 October show total gaming revenue of $579.6 million for the month, up 2.8% year on year. Internet gaming win reached $274.8 million, up 13.0%, and accounted for 47.4% of everything the state’s casinos, racetracks and their partners won. A year earlier that share was 43.1%.
The online figure also outstripped Atlantic City’s nine casino floors by $47.0 million. Land-based casino win slipped 1.3% to $227.8 million, while sports wagering revenue fell 14.3% to $77.0 million after a weak month for operators on football.
iGaming keeps carrying the market
September’s online result was also 6.0% above August’s $259.3 million. Almost all of it came from casino-style games: “other authorised games” won $272.4 million (up 13.2%), while peer-to-peer poker fell 5.2% to $2.3 million.
FanDuel remained the largest iGaming brand at $57.8 million, though its growth slowed to 2.1%. The momentum sat further down the table. BetMGM rose 16.7% to $35.4 million, Hard Rock Bet climbed 25.5% to $17.8 million and BetRivers gained 25.2% to $10.0 million. BetFanatics nearly tripled, up 187.4% to $14.7 million, overtaking Bally Bet and BetRivers. DraftKings added 9.9% to reach $53.3 million.
The tax take follows the money. Internet gaming produced $61.1 million of the $93.4 million in gaming taxes collected in September, about 65% of the total, despite generating under half of revenue. That reflects its 19.75% gross revenue tax rate against 8% for casino win.
RelatedBetMGM Q3 revenue rises 7% to $710m as adjusted EBITDA more than doubles
| Segment | Sept 2026 | Sept 2025 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet gaming win | $274.8m | $243.1m | +13.0% |
| Casino win (land-based) | $227.8m | $230.7m | -1.3% |
| Slot machine win | $177.9m | $170.1m | +4.6% |
| Table game win | $49.9m | $60.6m | -17.6% |
| Sports wagering revenue | $77.0m | $89.8m | -14.3% |
| Online sportsbook | $72.9m | $89.8m | -18.8% |
| Retail sportsbook lounges | $4.1m | -$0.01m | n/a |
| Total gaming revenue | $579.6m | $563.7m | +2.8% |
Sports betting: handle vs hold
Sports betting’s decline was mostly about results, not demand. Handle on completed events fell 3.6% to $1.09 billion. Win on those events fell 16.7% to $68.1 million, as hold dropped from 7.3% to 6.3%.
Football did most of the damage. Bettors staked $318.8 million on completed football events, 15.3% less than a year earlier, but sportsbooks kept only 1.3% of it, against 4.8% in September 2025. Football win fell from $18.1 million to $4.3 million, a swing of $13.8 million. Parlay hold also eased, from 13.3% to 11.8%. Baseball went the other way: hold rose to 4.4% from 1.6%, and win nearly tripled to $6.5 million.
Applied to this year’s handle, last September’s hold rate would have produced roughly $78.8 million in completed-events win, about $10.8 million more than operators actually kept. Most of the shortfall, in other words, came down to outcomes.
The impact was uneven across brands. FanDuel’s online sportsbook revenue fell 34.4% to $24.7 million, and DraftKings slipped 5.9% to $21.3 million. Bet365 rose 21.2% to $6.6 million and Hard Rock Bet gained 36.0% to $2.3 million. Retail lounges recorded $4.1 million, compared with a small loss in September 2025, when Borgata’s lounge lost $3.4 million.
Atlantic City’s land-based picture
The 1.3% dip in casino win hides two very different trends. Slot win grew 4.6% to $177.9 million, while table game win fell 17.6% to $49.9 million. Borgata’s table win roughly halved, down 48.1% to $9.0 million, which pulled its total casino win down 11.3% to $55.7 million even though its slots rose 2.9%. Bally’s tables fell 49.9%, and Hard Rock’s dropped 15.6%.
Five of the nine properties grew. Harrah’s led with a 12.7% rise to $18.5 million, helped by a 43.5% jump in table win. Tropicana rose 9.3% to $17.7 million, Ocean Casino 7.6% to $42.6 million, Caesars 4.3% to $17.3 million and Golden Nugget 0.3% to $10.0 million. Borgata, Bally’s (-7.4%), Hard Rock (-4.3%) and Resorts (-3.7%) declined.
Year to date
Through September, New Jersey has generated $5.39 billion in total gaming revenue, up 5.1%. Internet gaming win of $2.40 billion (up 13.2%) is now $165.9 million ahead of land-based casino win of $2.24 billion (up 1.4%) and accounts for 44.6% of the market, up from 41.4% at the same point in 2025. Sports wagering revenue is down 6.3% at $748.4 million, while completed-events handle is down 4.1% at $8.30 billion. Year-to-date hold stands at 8.7%, compared with 9.0% a year earlier.
Among properties, Caesars (+10.2%), Ocean (+5.6%) and Borgata (+2.1%) are ahead for the year. The other six are behind, with Golden Nugget (-4.2%) and Bally’s (-2.8%) showing the steepest declines.
What to watch
October brings a full month of NFL football, so sports betting hold should show whether September’s 1.3% football margin was simply bad luck. In iGaming, watch whether challengers such as BetFanatics, Hard Rock Bet and BetRivers keep taking share from the two market leaders. In Atlantic City, the key question is whether slot growth can offset volatile table results heading into the quieter winter months.
Source: New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, September 2026 gaming revenue release (PDF). Comparisons use the DGE’s August 2026 and September 2025 releases.
