Profits at Atlantic City casinos cascaded down 80 percent in 2020. No one would be too surprised at those numbers released April 9 by the Division of Gaming Enforcement. More surprising was that seven of the nine gaming halls turned a profit.
The industry reported $117.5 million in gross operating profit compared to the $594 million in 2019. Credit the decline to the coronavirus pandemic that closed casinos for more than three months and have limited capacity ever since, according to the Associated Press.
Gross operating profit is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and other expenses.
“Atlantic City and its casinos endured their most challenging year in history,” said James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
Ocean Casino Resort, the only casino which reported a profit increase, posted the largest operating profit at $21.8 million, up from $6.7 million in 2019.
“Despite 2020’s extraordinary challenges, Ocean showed continued growth, emerging as an industry leader in gross gaming revenue,” Terry Glebocki, Ocean’s CEO, said in a statement. “Thanks to our team’s hard work and determination in the months before and after our temporary closure due to the global pandemic, Ocean had a successful year. As restrictions ease and we reopen additional areas of our business, I’m optimistic we’ll continue to see gaming growth throughout 2021.”
The other casino results:
- Tropicana: $18.7 million, down 78 percent
- Hard Rock: $10.9 million, down 72 percent
- Caesars: $10.4 million, down 84 percent
- Harrah’s: $8.5 million, down 90 percent
- Golden Nugget: $7.2 million, down 74 percent
- Borgata: $650,000, down 99.7 percent from 2019
- Resorts: $10.5 million loss
- Bally’s: $10 million loss
While Covid-19 forced the closure of the casino hotels in Atlantic City, went online to find blackjack, roulette and slots. Casinos touted online gaming in commercials during the lockdown, and those revenues soared 101 percent to more than $970 million.
Results for internet-only entities:
- Resorts Digital: $21 million, up $8.5 million
- Caesars Interactive Entertainment-NJ: $20 million, up 45 percent
- Golden Nugget Online Gaming: $18.6 million
Restaurants, bars and similar businesses have suffered as much as any industry during the year-long coronavirus pandemic. So New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a law in Atlantic City April 9 to provide $35 million in federal aid. Murphy and his wife, Tammy, also received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in Atlantic City during the visit.
“We need a lot more,” Murphy said. Under the American Rescue Plan, the state will get $6 billion from the $1.9 trillion approved.
Meanwhile, AC Mayor Marty Small Sr., who fought the state takeover of the shore resort in 2016, concedes that parts of the takeover improved the life in the resort. As a result, Small is not so averse to extending the takeover for up to five more years. The state lets his administration operate autonomously, but with some oversight. Between 2016 and 2020, the city budget fell 11.5 percent, and the budget for the current year will fall below $200 million for the first time in years. The city shed more than 100 jobs as well.
“The law is to be used when it needs to be used,” Small said. “I’m already having preliminary discussions about what a new bill would look like.”
