ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Betting on the NFL playoffs in the run-up to the Super Bowl, along with soaring internet gambling revenue and a solid month at Atlantic City's brick-and-mortar casinos led to an increase in New Jersey's gambling revenue of more than 30% in January.

Figures released Wednesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show the industry won over $300 million last month, up 30.9% from January 2019 when sports betting was not as developed as it is now in the state.

Gamblers wagered over $540 million on sports in January, mainly on football and basketball, leading to the third-highest monthly total since the state began offering legal sports betting in June 2018. Those bets generated $53.5 million in revenue for the casinos and two racetracks that offer sports betting, an increase of over 185% from a year ago.

Internet gambling continued its steady climb in New Jersey, with casinos winning more than $55 million online in January, an increase of 64% from a year ago.

And business at the brick-and-mortar casinos in Atlantic City was solid if not spectacular, with revenue up 8.3% to over $192 million.

“Atlantic City continued its momentum with strong results in January,” said James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. “Internet and sports wagering did particularly well, bolstering the industry’s performance in the middle of the traditional off-season.”

The numbers were encouraging for a resort that slows down significantly during the winter months, and had long sought the added revenue from sports and internet betting, which don't rely on people making the trip to Atlantic City.

When internet and sports betting revenue is included, six of the nine casinos reported increases over January 2019 levels, led by Hard Rock, which was up 41% to $24.2 million. The Ocean Casino Resort was up 39.2% to $19.7 million; Golden Nugget was up 37.2% to $36.7 million; Borgata was up 22.3% to $68.2 million; Harrah's was up 9.9% to $23.6 million, and Tropicana was up 1.5% to $24.9 million.

Bally's was down 9.9% to $11.3 million; Resorts was down 3.1% to $12.4 million, and Caesars was down less than 1% to just over $17 million.

Terry Glebocki, Ocean's CEO, said January marked the seventh straight month that her casino posted double-digit revenue growth.

“We were exceptionally pleased with our slot revenues, which increased 87% over last January,” she said.

Nearly half the sports betting revenue came from one place: the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, just outside New York City, where the FanDuel sports book operates. It made $26.4 million in sports betting revenue. Resorts casino, which has the DraftKings sports book, posted nearly $16 million in sports betting. Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport saw $3.6 million in sports betting revenue.

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Follow Wayne Parry at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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