A recent report by the iDevelopment and Economic Association creates a rosy picture of New Jersey’s online gaming experiment, saying it has brought revenue, jobs and tax payments to the state.
The group says it is a trade association that exclusively represents the interests of the U.S. online gaming industry, and the study was peer reviewed by researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The study found that from 2013—when New Jersey began online gaming—through 2016, online gaming has directly and indirectly created $983 million in economic output for the state. Online gaming has also created 3,374 jobs, $218.9m in wages to employees, and $124.4m in tax revenue to state and local governments, including $83.5m in iGaming taxes, the report said.
“New Jersey’s experience provides valuable lessons for other US states considering iGaming legalization in the future,” said Jeff Ifrah, a gaming attorney and one of iDEA’s founding members. “The state’s operating environment and regulatory structure provides a portable model which can be modeled by other jurisdictions, bringing much-needed jobs and tax revenue. New Jersey iGaming is also a success from a regulatory perspective, with some of the strictest iGaming regulation protocols in the world; these regulations guarantee that operators are accountable, and that players can trust that they will be protected.”
The report also noted that there has been little evidence of online gaming contributing to underage gambling, money laundering or fraud in New Jersey’s online market—all concerns raised by opponents of online gambling. Also, rather than cannibalize land-based casino customers, New Jersey’s Atlantic City casinos have been seeing steady revenue gains and report attracting new players through their online sites.
