Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa led the way for Atlantic City’s eight casinos to post a 6.9 percent increase in revenue for July, even as the Trump Taj Mahal is about to close.
The Taj Mahal, bogged down by the first month of an ongoing labor strike, saw its revenue decline 8.2 percent from $19.1 million in July 2015 to $17.1 million this year.
The Borgata, however, posted about $84.7 million in revenue for the month, up 12.1 percent from 2015 and the casino’s best-reported revenue ever for a month.
“While we expected a good month with five full weekends, we are very pleased with a record-breaking month 13 years after opening,” said Joe Lupo, the Borgata’s senior vice president.
Overall, revenue at Atlantic City’s eight casinos was up 6.9 percent in July, to $275.2 million, but only five of the city’s eight casinos saw revenue increases.
For the Taj Mahal, it was another down month in a long spiral that is scheduled to end with the casino’s closing on October 10. Though it still bears presidential nominee Donald Trump’s name, the casino is now owned by billionaire Carl Icahn.
Icahn has been in a long dispute with the city’s biggest casino workers union—Local 54 of Unite HERE—over health and retirement benefits. The union went on strike July 1 and Icahn has announced he plans to close the casino October 10.
The casino has filed the required notices to employees of the closing. About 2,848 employees have been notified they will be laid off. Another 105 employees from the independent Hard Rock Café at the Taj Mahal site were also notified of layoffs.
Revenue from table games was up 11 percent, to $75.7 million, and slot machine revenue was up 3.1 percent, to $182.2 million. The revenue figures for all the casinos were aided by the fact that there were five weekends in July this year, compared to only four in July 2015.
Internet gambling revenue continued its steady growth, up 38.6 percent from a year ago, to $17.3 million, according to figures released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Revenue from online poker was just over $2 million, up 6.7 percent from roughly $1.9 million a year ago. The other online casino games generated $15.4 million, which was a 44.2-percent increase year-over-year from $10.6 million.
New Jersey’s poker industry also raked in $5 million during the month of July. Brick-and-mortar games accounted for 60 percent of that money, and the online poker industry accounted for the rest.
According to an analysis by the Associated Press, the Tropicana, Atlantic City’s other casino owned by Icahn, posted the biggest increase among brick-and-mortar casinos, up 14.2 percent, to $36.4 million.
The Golden Nugget was up 9.7 percent, to $25 million, and Caesars was up 7.6 percent, to $31.2 million. Resorts, the nearest functioning casino to the Taj Mahal, saw its revenue increase by 6.2 percent in July compared with a year ago, to $17.8 million.
Harrah’s was down 5.2 percent, to $34.2 million, and Bally’s was down 4.8 percent, to $21.6 million.
The revenue figures also showed that the state’s online market is evening out between its main competitors. The Borgata; Caesars Interactive-NJ; the Golden Nugget; Resorts Digital; and the Tropicana all posted internet gambling revenue of between $3 million to $3.9 million in July.
