Atlantic City saw another good month for total gaming revenue in March bringing in $273.7 million, up more than 25 percent over March 2018.
Sports betting in New jersey also had a strong month as the NCAA Basketball tournament unfolded with the state seeing a total handle of about $372 million with an 8.5 percent hold of about $32 million. FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowland’s Racetrack reported $17.5 million of that revenue, with more than $13 million coming from online betting.
More than $2.3 billion has been bet at the state’s sportsbooks—which includes sportsbooks at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park racetracks—since sports betting went live in June. New Jersey’s sports books have made over $63 million from sports betting and paid $7.7 million in state taxes in the first three months of this year, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.
Though the opening of two new casinos in June 2018 has contributed to a dip in overall profits for Atlantic City casinos, total revenue has climbed for 10 consecutive months. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, however, recently reported that casino profits for 2018 fell 15.4 percent.
James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, attributed the lower quarterly report profit numbers to investments the city’s casinos have made to attract more business.
“Earlier this week, the casinos reported tighter profit margins in 2018, but we are seeing results from the investments they’ve made,” said Plousis. “The regional economy is benefiting, and the industry is hiring. More than 2,000 jobs are open, including about 700 full-time positions.”
Through the first three months of 2019, total gaming revenue is up 22.2 percent over 2018. Seven city casinos operated for the entire year in 2018 with the Hard Rock Atlantic City and The Ocean Casino Resort opening in June. The city’s nine casinos have now reported total gaming revenue of $726.65 million this year.
Online casino gambling revenue has also been climbing steadily with the casinos and their online partners taking in $39.1 million in March, an increase of 53 percent compared to the same month last year. The number reflects a new record for the state.
The Golden Nugget Atlantic City and its online partners led the market bringing in more than $14.2 million in March.
The figures also indicate that online sports betting has helped advance online casino gaming in the state as several major sports betting sites such as DraftKings and PokerStars have added online casino sites to their platforms. Resorts casino online division—which is partnered with both sites—took in about $8.5 million in online casino revenue, according to online poker report.
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa led in total gaming revenue in March with $65.7 million, more than double the next-closest property. Bally’s Atlantic City, Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City and Tropicana Atlantic City all reported decreases in total gaming revenue in March compared to last year, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
