In a sign of how bad weather can adversely affect Atlantic City’s casinos, a mild January in 2016 resulted in a 7.7 percent increase in casino revenue for the city’s seven remaining casinos over last year.
Casino revenue for the city was $185.9 million compared to $175.5 million in January 2016. Online gambling revenue also remained strong at $18.8 million, up from $14.6 million in 2016. Total gaming taxes to the state Treasury for the month were $16.5 million.
“A year ago I said winter storm Jonas, which paralyzed much of the eastern seaboard, was one reason why casino revenues fell in January of 2016,” Casino Control Commission Chairman Matthew Levinson said in a press statement. “The same storm that effectively wiped out a full weekend last year is one of the big reasons why revenues for the current casinos jumped by 15.2 percent last month.”
That figure represents the increase for the seven remaining casinos without counting the Trump Taj Mahal, which closed in October 2016.
“Even though there were fewer weekend days this year, and most of the New Year’s holiday weekend fell in December, revenues still increased at slots, tables and from internet operations,” Levinson said. “Every single one of the current operators won more this January than in the same month last year, and Borgata had its best January ever.
All seven casinos posted revenue increases, led by Caesars, which was up more than 41 percent, to $28.2 million. Bally’s posted the smallest gain, at 0.6 percent.
