Atlantic City felt the effects of four casino closings this year—three of which closed in recent weeks—as casino revenue for September was down about 13 percent over 2013.
But at the same time, five of the city’s remaining eight casinos saw revenue increases for the month—with one casino, Resorts, staying flat—including a whopping 51 percent increase for the Golden Nugget casino.
The casinos won $209.4 million in September, down from $240.2 million in 2013. Those figures include about $10.2 million from online gambling, which was not in effect in September of 2013.
While that’s a precipitous drop, four casinos have closed in the resort since September 2013. The Atlantic Club casino closed in January while the Showboat casino closed August 31, the Revel Casino closed September 1 and Trump Plaza casino closed September 16.
Those four casinos had $49.8 million in revenue in September 2013.
The combined revenue of the city’s eight remaining casino hotels was $197.7 million—a 3.8 percent gain from 2013. With Trump Plaza’s figures for the month, the casinos posted a 9.1 percent gain to $207.7 million.
“I think our marketing programs are working to get new customers out of the properties that have closed,” Mark Giannantonio, CEO of Resorts Casino Hotel told the Press of Atlantic City. “It appears everybody’s trying to capture those customers and keep them in the market. We’re very aggressive with our promotional offers and we’re encouraged with our new member signups.”
Still, the overall trend was down.
Figures released from the state Division of Gaming Enforcement show that casinos took in $147.8 million at the slot machines, down 16.6 percent from a year ago, and $51.2 million at table games, down 18.5 percent.
Internet gambling took in $10.2 million in September, down $300,000 from August. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and Party Poker held the top spot taking in $3.4 million online. Caesars Interactive ranked second at $2.6 million, the Tropicana was over $2 million and the Golden Nugget won nearly $1.1 million.
The now-closed Trump Plaza won $767,870 for the month. The casino’s online partner—Betfaircasino.com—has now partnered with Caesars Interactive. The Trump Taj Mahal also won $228,717 online, but has ceased online operations after its online partner—Ultimate Poker, saying that the casino has not paid them their share of revenue—withdrew from the state’s online market last month.
There was also some good news for online gambling. As of September 30, New Jersey had 456,502 Internet gambling accounts up nearly 6 percent from August. The figure does not reflect total players, as many players have multiple accounts.
As for land-based revenue, the Golden Nugget had the biggest increase, up 51.6 percent to $16.2 million for the month. The Tropicana Casino Resort was up 15.8 percent to $23.4 million, and the Borgata was up 13 percent to $58.4 million.
The Taj Mahal—which has been embroiled in a much-publicized bankruptcy battle and may close in November—had the biggest revenue decline, down about 23 percent to $17.5 million.
The casino is hoping for major union concessions and state aid to stay open, saying it will close November 13 if they don’t get the concessions.
Bally’s Atlantic City also posted a decline of 2.3 percent to $19.6 million.
For the year, Atlantic City’s casinos have taken in $2.04 billion.
Sept. 2014 revenue for Atlantic City’s casinos, compared with Sept. 2013
Borgata: $58.4 million, up 13 percent
Harrah’s: $31.2 million, up 5.9 percent
Caesars: $26.1 million, up 9.6 percent
Tropicana: $23.4 million, up 15.8 percent
Bally’s: $19.6 million, down 2.3 percent
Taj Mahal: $17.5 million, down 23 percent
Golden Nugget: $16.2 million, up 51.6 percent
Resorts: $11.5 million, unchanged
Source: New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement
