New Jersey Governor Supports Expanding Casinos Beyond Atlantic City

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signals openness to expanding New Jersey's casino market beyond Atlantic City as NYC eyes up to three full-scale casinos, intensifying regional gaming competition.

Ziv Chen - News Editor at Covers.com
Ziv Chen • News Editor
Jun 23, 2025 • 10:10 ET • 3 min read
Photo By - Imagn Images.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has indicated that he would consider opening the casino gaming market beyond Atlantic City onto the central and northern parts of the Garden State. Murphy's remarks come amid growing concern about increased competition across the Hudson River in New York, where state legislators are looking to approve up to three full-scale casinos in or near New York City.

Key Takeaways

  • New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he will consider expanding gambling beyond Atlantic City.
  • The move comes as a response to the potential competitive threat of three casinos in the New York City area.
  • Despite ballot rejection in 2016, market forces continue to propel the state's casino expansion case. 

When interviewed by The Press of Atlantic City, Gov. Murphy admitted to the potential threat this movement would pose to Atlantic City's financial health. However, he stressed how significant it was to retain gaming and tourism dollars in New Jersey, especially if New York's new casinos would be appropriating a substantial percentage of the existing customer base.

Murphy called his position pragmatic and continued that New Jersey must be pragmatic in a bid to retain its market share under pressure from the outside.

Gov. Murphy was adamant that whatever growth did occur would have to be closely monitored for its broader economic impact. While Atlantic City has lately been showing signs of a strong rebound, particularly over the high summer season, the governor was eager to protect its gains even as he looked to other parts of the state for new sources of revenue.

Although no official proposal exists, Gov. Murphy's willingness is a shift in tone from prior state policy. In 2016, New Jersey voters rejected a ballot question to allow casinos outside of Atlantic City by nearly four-to-one. Despite that defeat, the casino expansion case has continued to advance due to changing market forces and increasing competition from bordering states.

Atlantic City casinos record highest revenue growth in May

The Atlantic City casino market reported strong financial results for May as the city's nine casinos contributed $265.3 million in land-based gaming revenue. The reports indicate a 10.9% increase from May 2024 and a 20% gain from April 2025, the year's highest monthly performance.

Statewide total gaming revenue in May for the retail casinos, racetracks, and their internet partners combined was $614.7 million, 20.5% higher than its year-earlier equivalent. Internet gaming generated $246.8 million, a 28.5% increase year over year and a state internet gaming business record for the month.

Sports betting also increased in May, reaching $1 billion in wagers, which yielded $102.5 million in revenue, a 30.2% increase from May 2024.

New Jersey's gaming revenue year-to-date through May amounted to $2.74 billion, an increase of 6.6% compared to last year. Overall, online gaming is still slightly ahead of retail casino revenue. Year-to-date iGaming revenue is $1.16 billion and retail casino revenue is $1.12 billion.

May figures also indicate a better performance than before the pandemic. Casino revenue for May 2019 was $222.9 million, and in-person revenue for May 2018 was $193.3 million.

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Ziv Chen
News Editor

Ziv has been deep in the iGaming trenches for over 20 years, long before most people could spell "geolocation compliance." With a background in marketing and business development at some of the biggest names in gambling tech, Ziv knows the industry from the inside out. Since joining Covers, he's turned his sharp eye (and sharper keyboard) toward everything happening in the fast-moving world of online gambling. Whether it's new state launches, the latest twists in regulation, or what the big operators and game providers are cooking up next, Ziv breaks it all down with clarity, context, and just the right amount of snark. He covers the business side of betting, from affiliate trends and revenue reports to the tech powering your favorite slots. His motto in writing is “let’s make it make sense without putting you to sleep.”

When he’s not tracking gambling legislation or looking for the next breaking story, Ziv is living and dying with every pitch and play from his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. As a Pitt graduate, it’s a city loyalty forged in heartbreak, but one he wouldn’t trade for anything, except maybe a few more playoff wins.

When away from the keyboard, Ziv loves to hit the road and soak up the energy of casinos. Whether strolling the neon jungle called the Vegas Strip, or wandering into a smoky riverboat casino in the Midwest, Ziv’s in his element. He’s the guy chatting with players, blackjack dealers, and asking pit bosses way too many questions, all in the name of “research,” of course. The casino floor isn’t just his workplace, it’s a weird and wonderful ecosystem of flashing lights, wild characters, and pure sensory overload, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

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