[toc]For once, online gambling did not bail out the entire casino industry in Atlantic City in the latest revenue numbers.
But the numbers for the state’s online casinos were still extremely good.
NJ casino numbers in April, at a glance
The NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement released the casino revenue numbers for April. For the first time in awhile, the news wasn’t overwhelmingly positive. (March continued a run of several good months that saw year-over-year growth for the total NJ casino market.)
Land-based casinos brought in $190.9 million for the month; that was down more than $7 million from April 2016 ($198 million).
The numbers were still very good for NJ online gambling, coming in at $20.8 million for the month — the second straight month the industry eclipsed $20 million. That’s up 23 percent from $17 million in April a year ago.
That mitigated the overall casino industry’s overall losses YoY. Total revenue — land-based casinos and iGaming — was down 1.6 percent, to $211.7 million. (Revenue clocked in at $215 million last April.)
If you take the Taj Mahal out of the mix…
Without online gambling, it’s clear the things wouldn’t be so rosy.
But there is one other silver lining. If you take out Trump Taj Mahal — which struggled in 2016 before ultimately closing in October — the numbers are actually up. Land-based casino win was up 4.2 percent YoY; total win (online gambling included) was up 5.8 percent.
Hard Rock International since bought the Taj Mahal, with plans to reopen in 2018.
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Winners and losers for NJ land-based casinos
Most casinos saw increases year over year for their physical properties.
The biggest uptick came for Tropicana, which was up 15 percent. Its $28.3 million in revenue was good for second place among all casinos. That was, of course, still well behind leader Borgata (up 4.4 percent to $58.5 million).
Just two casinos were down — Bally’s (down 5.3 percent to $17.2 million) and Harrah’s (down 7.2 percent to $27 million.)
Winners and losers for NJ online casinos
Not shockingly, all online casinos saw revenue increases YoY. But some still did way better than others.
The biggest winner was clearly Golden Nugget, which was up more than $2 million from a year ago. That’s an amazing increase even for the continually growing iGaming industry.
Tropicana also saw big gains on the online side, up 29 percent to $3.9 million.
Borgata was the operator to see the least growth, but it was still up some six percent (to $4.2 million). However, it’s clear that after its early online gambling market lead, Borgata is no better than No. 2 in most months and closer to in the middle of the pack than the top.