Atlantic City’s eight casinos saw their revenue decrease by 4.9 percent in August, compared with a year ago.
Figures released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show the casinos won $245.8 million in August, down from $258.5 million in August 2015. However, online gambling revenue was up 31.6 percent in August to more than $16 million.
August this year contained one less weekend than in 2015. The removal of a busy summer weekend was a significant factor in the revenue results.
“August had an unfavorable calendar and revenues were down compared to last August, but total gaming win is still 2 percent higher than it was at this point last year,” said Matt Levinson, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in a press statement. “Everyone knows that weekends are the busiest time in Atlantic City, and August of 2015 had one more Saturday and one more Sunday than this year.”
Only the Golden Nugget and Tropicana posted monthly revenue gains in August. The biggest decline came at the Trump Taj Mahal, which is engulfed in a labor strike and scheduled to close next month.
According to an analysis by the Associated Press, Tropicana had the biggest monthly gain, up 6 percent to $32.9 million compared to a year ago. The Golden Nugget was up 6.4 percent to $23.8 million.
The Taj Mahal was down 27.2 percent to $13.7 million; Caesars was down 11 percent to $27.9 million; Bally’s was down 10.5 percent to $20.9 million; the Borgata was down 7.3 percent to $69.3 million; Harrah’s was down 5.5 percent to $33.5 million, and Resorts was down 0.4 percent to $17.5 million.
For online gambling, the Golden Nugget came close to market leader Borgata. The Golden Nugget won $3.4 million online last month compared to $3.7 million for the Borgata. Caesars Interactive-NJ, Resorts Digital and Tropicana were all closely clustered, with online revenue ranging from $3.1 million to $2.8 million.
