New Jersey's headline iGaming numbers include money generated with outside partners, making the financial picture more complicated than the monthly totals suggest
ATLANTIC CITY — New Jersey's online casino industry is generating eye-popping numbers.
But when state regulators announce hundreds of millions of dollars in monthly internet gaming revenue, there's an important distinction that can easily get lost:
That doesn't mean all that money is flowing into Atlantic City's casino hotels.
Casino industry analyst Anthony Marino raised that issue Thursday during an appearance on The Don Williams Show on News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND, cautioning against treating internet gaming totals as though they are equivalent to revenue generated inside Atlantic City's nine casino properties.
“The Division of Gaming Enforcement has done an analysis, and it just cautions that just because they're bringing in a lot of money on iGaming doesn't mean that iGaming revenue stays in the city,” Marino said.
A South Jersey NewsBeat review of the state's casino accounting rules shows why.
$1.59 Billion in Six Months
New Jersey's casinos and their online partners generated $1.59 billion in internet gaming win during the first six months of 2026, according to the state Division of Gaming Enforcement.
That was up 15% from $1.39 billion during the same period last year.
June alone produced $271 million in internet gaming win, up 17.5% from June 2025.
The monthly reports have become a regular source of record-breaking headlines as online gambling has grown into a major component of New Jersey's gaming industry.
But the state itself makes an important distinction in how those figures should be interpreted.
DGE describes the monthly internet gaming figure as revenue generated by the casinos and their partners.
Those partners matter.
There's No Simple 70-30 Split
Marino and Williams discussed a figure that has circulated over the years suggesting an online operator might receive approximately 70% of internet gaming revenue while the casino receives about 30%.
Marino said the actual arrangements aren't publicly known well enough to make such a blanket assertion.
“Those numbers are closely held secret, the actual percentages,” Marino said. “Whether it's still 70-30 or less than that in some cases, perhaps, or more than that in some cases, we just don't know.”
The DGE's own accounting guidance supports the larger point: there isn't one revenue-sharing formula that applies to every online casino operation.
New Jersey casinos use different business arrangements for internet gaming, including operations run directly by a casino, affiliated companies, joint ventures and agreements with outside operators.
The DGE has devoted an entire financial presentation to the subject, titled Who's Getting the Money? Understanding the Internet Gaming and Sports Wagering Business in New Jersey.
The agency says the different arrangements determine “how, and to what extent” gross revenue is shared among casinos, affiliates and third-party operators.
That makes the headline internet gaming number considerably different from simply counting money won on the casino floor.
How the Accounting Works
If an Atlantic City casino operates an internet gaming business itself, the financial picture is relatively straightforward.
But arrangements involving affiliates, joint ventures and third-party operators can be much more complicated.
Depending on the structure, the casino licensee's financial statements may recognize distributions or other revenue it receives from the online operation rather than treating the entire amount wagered and won online under its license as revenue belonging to the casino hotel itself.
That's one reason DGE specifically warns readers to examine the footnotes in casino financial reports when evaluating internet gaming and sports wagering.
The agency's quarterly reports contain income statements, balance sheets, cash-flow statements and extensive notes explaining the casinos' finances. DGE also requires supplemental filings that include a specific “Reconciliation of Internet Casino Revenue.”
In other words, the monthly iGaming headline and the casino company's bottom line are measuring different things.
Record Online Revenue, Falling Casino Profits
The distinction becomes especially significant when comparing New Jersey's booming online gaming market with the financial results of Atlantic City's casino licensees.
During the first six months of 2026, internet gaming win jumped 15% to $1.59 billion.
Yet Atlantic City's casino licensees reported $1.57 billion in net revenue for the first six months of the year, an increase of only 0.2%.
Their gross operating profit fell 15.5%, from the comparable period in 2025 to $269.6 million.
For the second quarter alone, casino net revenue increased 0.9%, while gross operating profit declined 10.1%.
DGE itself attaches a warning to those figures.
“Valid comparisons cannot be made” involving internet gaming and sports wagering without considering the information contained in the financial-report footnotes, the agency says.
That doesn't mean online gaming isn't valuable to Atlantic City's casino companies. It clearly represents an increasingly important part of their businesses.
It does mean that $1 of reported internet gaming win should not automatically be interpreted as $1 going into an Atlantic City casino hotel's pocket.
Why It Matters to Atlantic City
Marino said the difference matters because gamblers physically visiting Atlantic City generate economic activity beyond what happens at a blackjack table or slot machine.
A casino visitor can book a hotel room, eat at a restaurant, visit a spa, shop, see a concert, park a car and spend money elsewhere in the city.
Someone gambling from a phone doesn't necessarily generate any of that additional spending.
“The more that gaming increases, some of that is gaming that people probably would have been in there into the casino, the brick and mortar,” Marino said.
Restaurants, spas and other businesses at the property can benefit from an in-person visitor, he said.
“They don't get the action when it's coming over the phone or the computer.”
Whether online gambling actually replaces significant numbers of casino visits remains a much more difficult question, and the figures reviewed by South Jersey NewsBeat do not establish that it does.
But Marino's larger point is supported by the state's accounting system: New Jersey's enormous online gaming totals aren't interchangeable with the financial performance of Atlantic City's physical casinos.
The next time another record iGaming number arrives, the question isn't only how much gamblers won or lost online.
It's also who ultimately gets the money.
Anthony Marino discussed Atlantic City's casino industry Thursday on The Don Williams Show, heard Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 a.m. on News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.
About the Author
Scott Stephens
Scott has been an on-air personality, producer and newscaster for 30+ years. He has been a mainstay in the South Jersey Community and on the air across many different area stations. Scott can currently be heard on Kool 98.3 and News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.
