[toc]September 2017 turned out to be a pretty good month for New Jersey casinos, online and off.
In fact, according to figures released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, Atlantic City’s seven casinos saw gambling revenues increase 6.5 percent in September. The figures include revenues from New Jersey online gambling sites, which were also up 25.6 percent in September.
Currently-operating Atlantic City casinos posted $235.8 million in revenue in September 2017. This compared with $218.4 million in the same month last year.
Of course, these figures do not include more than $8.1 million revenue posted by the now-closed Trump Taj Mahal in September 2016. When Trump Taj Mahal numbers are taken into account, the increase in total gambling revenues in Atlantic City is a more modest 2.4 percent.
The best September for New Jersey casinos in a decade
However, Casino Control Commission Chairman and CEO Matthew B. Levinson told the Press of Atlantic City this was still a September to remember for the local casino industry.
“More than half of the casinos had their best September in a decade or more,” he said.
The year-to date number are now clearly up as well. Atlantic City Casinos posted a little over $2 billion in gambling revenue through the first nine months of the year. That represents a nine percent increase over the $1.8 billion posted by the casinos in the same period last year.
Total casino revenues in the Garden State hit $2.6 billion in 2016. This was a 1.5 percent increase over the $2.563 billion posted in 2015. It also represented the first gambling revenue increase in New Jersey in a decade. The casinos now appear on pace to do that again and more this year.
Year-to-date online gambling revenues hit $183,670,496 for the first nine months of the year. This represents a 27.1 percent increase over the $144,491,417 posted in the same period last year.
Borgata’s $70 million in revenue on top
Atlantic City’s top-grossing casino since it first opened in 2003, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa continued to hold on to the top spot in September by a rather wide margin. In fact, the Borgata’s $70 million in revenue represented a nine percent increase over the same month last year. Plus, it was more than double the amount posted by any of its competitors.
It was basically a three-way tie for second with Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City ($31.3 million) barely edging out Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino ($29.8 million) and Tropicana Casino & Resort Atlantic City ($29.8 million).
Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino revenues were actually down less than one percent compared to the same month last year. The property joined fellow Caesars Entertainment entity Bally’s Hotel And Casino as the only two Atlantic City casinos to post revenue declines. Bally’s Hotel And Casino gambling revenues were down two percent to $17.8 million last month.
NJ internet gambling revenues up across the board
Online, each of the five Atlantic City Casino operators that hold internet gambling licenses posted increases. This helped push the total internet gaming win up to $20.4 million.
Golden Nugget continues to set the pace online. Online gambling sites under its license (SugarHouse, Betfair – now FanDuel) posted $5.7 million in online gambling revenue throughout the month. Golden Nugget’s online gambling revenues were up a whopping 56 percent from the $3.7 million it posted in September last year.
[show-table name=cta-golden-nugget]
Image credit: Goran Bogicevic / Shutterstock.com