Gov. Phil Murphy said he feels the state’s decision to raise the internet gaming tax from 10.5-15% to 19.75% has not negatively impacted one of New Jersey’s fastest-growing sectors.
“I’m not worried about what we did with taxes,” he said. “We were way under the industry average, if you look at American states (and) we’re still on the underside.”
As part of the budget deal, New Jersey finalized a tax hike on internet gaming revenue, settling on a rate of 19.75% for online casino, sports betting and daily fantasy sports revenue. This represents a significant increase from the previous rates of 15% for online casino revenue, 13% for online sports betting revenue, and a 10.5% operating fee for daily fantasy sports.
Murphy, speaking at a Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey event in Atlantic City, touched on a number of topics involving the region. The status of casinos and the gaming industry certainly were among them.
Murphy — who at one point proposed raising the tax to 25% — said he liked where it landed.
“We raised it, but we basically got ourselves aligned, is the way I would put it,” he said. “So, I’m not concerned about that, and there’s no evidence that that’s dictating behavior.”
The state’s gaming efforts certainly are faring well everywhere.
The latest numbers, released last week, showed that the nine in-person casinos brought in $284.1 million in revenue in July — beating the total of online gaming ($247.3) for the first time in what it is turning into a banner 2025.
The state already has brought in $3.2 billion in revenue in 2025.
As for the future. The governor said the push to put a casino in North Jersey — which was voted down in a big way in 2016, or right before Murphy took office — has not returned in any meaningful way.
Murphy also said he’s pleased to see a potential project in New York City also appears to have come up short. It’s a matter he is watching with great interest, he said.
“The drama around casinos in New York has been quite pitched,” he said. “I say all that because a down state casino is, as a competitive matter, a big concern, but it probably matters a lot if that’s in Manhattan versus Long Island in terms of its impact on Atlantic City.”
Atlantic City still holds a trump card in the matter, he told the audience gathered at the Hard Rock Casino.
“No matter where they put a casino, I haven’t seen any casino that’s potentially on a list that has what we’ve gotten right outside of here, which is the extraordinary Atlantic Ocean, a location second to none,” he said.
Concentrating on the industry status in Atlantic City is his focus, he said.
Creating an industry that does well outside of the summer season (Memorial Day to Labor Day) is a key, he said. But perhaps not as important as making the city itself more of a draw.
“I think the most important thing we can do is to make this city and this experience as compelling as possible,” he said. “I give the mayor and his team credit here, I think there’s a lot of progress that’s been made there, but we still have a long way to go.”
