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The bulk of New Jersey's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) comes from its overabundance of scientists and engineers. Investopedia claims that the state has a higher concentration of people working in those sectors than anywhere else.

Put another way, New Jersey gets a huge chunk of money each year from healthcare, life sciences, and pharmaceuticals.

That’s not all. A significant contribution to New Jersey’s economy comes from financial services and manufacturing. Around 218,000 people work in New Jersey's finance industry, with a similar number (230,000) employed in manufacturing.

source Pixels

However, these traditional industries are enduring competition from gaming. While just 6,552 people work in the sector, according to figures from January, revenue from casinos increased 10.4% year-on-year in April, giving a true figure between $511 million and $526 million (depending on the source).

Unique Marketing

New Jersey’s gaming landscape is a bit strange. The Garden State has a huge appetite for gambling that echoes the wider popularity of the hobby in the rest of the United States, with operators choosing to attract both new and veteran customers with some unique marketing.

This includes welcome perks with extra tokens on deposit (for example) and/or free turns on various games. In the case of the Stake.com sign-up bonus, players can get 250 free spins on slots and a 100% bonus when making their first deposit. Stake.com is active in an eclectic group of 19 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

New Jersey is well-known for its land-based establishments, many of which have slots and table games playable online. There’s a sense that online gaming, also known as iGaming, has the edge over its brick-and-mortar counterpart though, just over a decade into its existence in the state.

Mutually Exclusive

April was New Jersey’s second-best month ever for online takings but the offline industry actually saw revenue fall by 6.3% year-on-year. Worryingly, some of the operators’ financials were at levels not seen since before 2020.

Source: Pexels.

Local experts claim that the seasonality of a place like Atlantic City means that lower footfall is inevitable in the colder months. Tourism seasonality is a topic of much discussion, even reaching the UN. Yet, online and offline casinos risk becoming mutually exclusive and competing under the same corporate umbrella.

Social Elements

An important driver of fans toward online gaming is the appearance of “live” gaming. Mixing the convenience of online play with the more “human” parts of a physical establishment, live blackjack and roulette lobbies retain the traditional dealer, via webcam.

This re-introduces the social elements of gambling into the online model. Of course, it’s debatable whether fans are choosing one type of casino over another but the figures indicate that income from individual games online is soaring. In March, the popularity of slots climbed 19.4%.

It’s worth noting that slots don’t usually get the ”live” treatment.

Oddly enough, money earned from internet poker fell 5.4%. Could this mean that poker, a highly social casino game, continues to resist its digital transformation? As one of the earliest games to appear on the web, it's unlikely.

It'll take a few more months before any significant trends for 2024 start to look concrete.