Year after 2 new casinos, Atlantic City revenue up nearly 8%

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – A year after two new casinos opened in Atlantic City, the seaside resort’s gambling and sports betting revenue is up nearly 8%, and its top casino had its best month ever.

Figures released Wednesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show the casinos took in $323 million, an increase of 7.8% from July 2018.

That’s when the city’s two newest casinos, Hard Rock and Ocean, were in their first full month of operation. July’s figures were the first true apples-to-apples comparison in a year of how the Atlantic City casino market had been doing.

But perhaps the biggest news of the month was a record-setting performance from the Borgata, which has long been Atlantic City’s top casino. It took in nearly $88 million in casino and sports betting revenue, the most it ever had won in a single month. That’s an increase of nearly 15% from a year earlier.

It came during the first full month of operation of a $12 million sports betting and entertainment project the casino opened.

“Playing lucky in table games, complemented by healthy July volumes, led to Borgata enjoying an all-time record in total gaming revenue,” Marcus Glover, the casino’s president and chief operating officer, said in an emailed statement.

The Ocean Casino Resort took in $20.1 million from gamblers in July, up 18% from a year earlier, when it was in its first month of operation.

“We are very pleased with the continued profitability and growth of the property,” said Michael Donovan, Ocean’s senior vice-president and chief marketing officer.

July, he said, marked the best month in the casino’s history for gross and net slot revenue and hotel occupancy, including the two-plus years it operated as Revel.

“Thanks to our management team and employees, we continue to build momentum,” he said.

Hard Rock has seized the No. 2 spot in the Atlantic City market. It took in $40.7 million in July, an increase of nearly 25% from its first month a year ago.

The Golden Nugget won $34.5 million in July, up 17.4%; Tropicana won nearly $33 million, which was down 11% from a year ago; and Harrah’s, which has fallen to the No. 4 spot after being second to Borgata for years, won just under $30 million, down 5% from a year ago.

Caesars, at just under $25 million, was down 15.2%; Bally’s, at $18.2 million, was down 11.3%; and Resorts, at $18.1 million, was up 1.8%.

Internet gambling brought in more than $39 million, an increase of nearly 52% from last year. Among internet-only entities, Resorts Digital took in $10.5 million in July, up nearly 169% from a year ago, and Caesars Interactive-NJ won just over $5 million, up nearly 35%.

So far this year, the casinos have taken in $1.84 billion, an increase of more than 18% from the same period last year.

___

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