Though Atlantic City lost its fifth casino in three years when the Trump Taj Mahal closed on October 10, overall casino revenue for the city was relatively flat for October, suggesting that the further shrinking of the city’s market is helping the remaining casinos.
Including the Trump Taj Mahal’s revenue, revenue for the industry was down less than one percent compared to October 2015. With the Taj Mahal excluded, the remaining seven casinos saw their revenue increase by 5.9 percent, according to figures released by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement.
“For the year, the seven operating casinos are up by 3.1 percent,” said Matt Levinson, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in a press statement. “I anticipate the operators will continue to focus on improving their business in Atlantic City.”
According to an analysis by the Associated Press, the eight casinos that operated for at least part of the month in October won $203 million, which was down 0.7 percent from October 2015.
Meanwhile, the state’s online gambling revenue remained strong, bringing in $16.6 million in October, up nearly 30 percent from a year ago and about $500,000 over September of this year. The Golden Nugget led the market with about $4.1 million. The Taj Mahal had not been partnered with an online site and did not offer online gambling.
Online casino games remained the main driver of the state’s online revenue rising 30.4 percent to just under $14.3 million. Online poker saw an increase of 24.9 percent to just under $2.4m. For the year-to-date, the state’s online market total is up nearly one-third to $161.1 million.
For the seven remaining brick-and-mortar casinos, the Golden Nugget was up 16.7 percent to $20.6 million. The Tropicana was up 13.5 percent to $27.9 million.
Only two casinos posted declines for the month: Resorts, which was down 3.5 percent to $14.2 million; and Bally’s, which was down 2.9 percent to $16.5 million. Resorts’ internet gambling arm, Resorts Digital, however, saw its online revenue increase by more than 204 percent over last year to $2.74 million.
For the first 10 months of the year, Atlantic City gambling revenues including brick-and-mortar casinos and Internet gambling reached about $2.2 billion, up 1.4 percent for the year.
