Atlantic City Casino Revenues Up Slightly in June

Posted on: July 20, 2014, 12:24h. 

Last updated on: August 25, 2015, 07:25h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

There’s a lot of doom and gloom surrounding Atlantic City these days. At least three casinos have either closed or are set to close this year, with a fourth also potentially closing if a buyer can’t be found. But while those are bad signs for the East Coast gambling hub, that doesn’t mean that there can’t be the occasional bit of good news for the city.

Revenue numbers for June were released last week, and when adjusted to discount the winnings from the Atlantic Club last year (which is no longer open for business), gaming revenues are up four percent year-over-year. Last June, the 11 casinos that are still now in operation made $227.1 million, and that number rose to $235.9 million in 2014.

Closure of Atlantic Club, Online Gambling Help Numbers

The raw numbers aren’t quite as good, of course. If you include the Atlantic Club’s revenue from last year, the city as a whole saw casino winnings drop by 5.7 percent. But such adjustments are going to become commonplace for the next year or more, as a series of casino closures is changing the dynamics of the gaming industry in the city.

Another factor that’s only beginning to impact Atlantic City is online gambling. The Internet casinos brought in $9.5 million during June, which accounts for all of the increase in year-over-year revenue. Online gambling was not yet regulated or operational in New Jersey at this time last year.

That may sound like a success, but like most things in Atlantic City these days, there are two sides to the story. That $9.5 million in revenue is down about nine percent from more than $10.4 million in May, and marks the third straight month of decline for online gambling in New Jersey. It’s also the lowest figure posted by the sites since January.

Borgata Leads City in Revenue

The Borgata is still the leader in both land-based and online-gambling in the city. The casino won $48.1 million in June, down less than one percent when compared to last year. The Borgata also led the way with $3.4 million in online winnings, though that was down 14 percent from May and was the lowest monthly total so far in 2014.

In a month filled with up and downs, the biggest winner was clearly the Golden Nugget. While the $14.3 million the casino won ranked just 7th among Atlantic City casinos, that still marked a year-over-year increase of 32.4 percent. The Golden Nugget was also the only casino that posted a monthly increase in online gambling revenues, earning about $100,000 more than it did in May. That represents the second consecutive growth month for the Nugget’s online operations.

On the other side of the coin, Trump Plaza saw its casino revenues tumble nearly 32 percent compared to last June, down to a paltry $4.7 million, by far the lowest figure in the city. Numbers like those help explain why the casino is now expected to be closed in September.

The Plaza is also the operator of one of the smaller online gambling operations in New Jersey in partnership with Betfair and GameAccount. At the moment, it’s unclear what will become of this site when Trump Plaza closes down. The casino site brought in just over $500,000 in revenue during June.