Atlantic City’s nine casinos have finally generated an improvement with August GGR reaching $294m from their gaming floors, marking a 4.9 per cent year-on-year increase, equating to $13.7m more, and making it the best August in over a decade.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) confirmed that physical slot machines were up 5.3 per cent to reach $221.6m with table gaming up 3.8 per cent to $72.4m. Only one of the casinos failed to produce an increase from August last year but six of the nine casinos generated less from in-person gaming than in August 2019, before the onset of the pandemic.
Borgata generated $74.2m in August, marking an increase of 1.6 per cent. Hard Rock was up 9.2 per cent at $55.3m, Ocean brought in $44m, up 11.4 per cent, Harrah’s generated $25.1m, a rise of 2.4 per cent, Tropicana increased by one per cent to $24.9m, Caesars generated $24m, an increase of 9.2 per cent, Bally’s generated $15.6m, up 4.2 per cent whilst Golden Nugget was up 11.2 per cent at $14.6m.
Resorts was the only faller in the land-based sector, down almost nine per cent at $16.1m.
James Plousis, Chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, said: “Monthly casino win finished the summer well, achieving its best August result in ten years. Year-to-date casino win was relatively flat compared to last year, but it was still the second-best result in 11 years. Overall business in Atlantic City remains stable, with operators gaining competitive advantage from a unique combination of impressive gaming options and first class in-person experiences. There is great opportunity for continued momentum in the fall season.”
For the year so far, eight months, GGR from land-based gaming came in at $1.92bn, marking a 0.2 per cent fall from the first eight months of the year, last year.
Online gaming continue to grow, reaching $198.4m, the highest monthly total ever recorded in New Jersey, showing an increase of nearly 28 per cent from a year earlier. Online slots and tables generated $195.8m with online poker bringing in $2.4m.
Sports betting generated $62.7m in revenue with over $57.7m of that total was generated online.
Jane Bokunewicz, Director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, said of online gaming: “This important vertical for the casino industry has topped $190m in four of the last eight months in a trend that is seeing off-property gaming activity, which includes online sports betting, contribute nearly half of Atlantic City operators’ total gross gaming revenue.”