Atlantic City’s casinos weathered a cold start to spring better than a snowy winter, but still saw a 1.5 percent revenue decline for the month compared to 2017.
The city’s casinos have seen a revenue decline for all three months this year as snow and nor’easters have pummeled the East Coast, but the bright spot has been online gambling. The seven casinos won $218.4 million overall in March, helped by $25.5 million in online winnings. Online revenue was up more than 17 percent from March 2017.
January’s revenue decrease compared to 2017 was 9.9 percent and February’s loss was 6.5 percent. So far this year, Atlantic City casino revenue is down nearly 6 percent from the first three months of 2017.
“I don’t know what impact the weather had, but four nor’easters in March sure didn’t help Atlantic City’s casinos,” said James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in a press release. “Internet gaming win continued to grow in March, but not enough to fully offset a decline at the gaming tables.”
According to an evaluation by the Associated Press, the Golden Nugget had the biggest percentage increase in March, up nearly 24 percent to $28.1 million in revenue. Caesars had the biggest decline, down over 25 percent to $21.9 million.
The Borgata continued to lead the market with nearly $65 million in gambling revenue, up just under 1 percent. Harrah’s was up 7 percent to $31.6 million.
Resorts was down 9.2 percent to $14.8 million; Tropicana was down 7.3 percent to $32.6 million, and Bally’s was also down 7.3 percent, to $15.7 million.
Among online companies, Caesars Interactive-NJ was up 40 percent to $4.4 million, and Resorts Digital was up nearly 1 percent to $4.2 million.
The overall revenue declines come as the state Division of Gaming Enforcement also released figures showing that profits for Atlantic City casinos were up 22.5 percent for 2017. Officials said that trend should continue as the city moves into its summer season.
A recent report also found that tourism indicators were up for the resort in 2017. The report released by the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism showed year-over-year increases across three key categories to close out 2017.
The three indicators—Atlantic County lodging fee per 100 rooms, Atlantic City casino parking fee per 100 spaces and the Atlantic County non-casino revenue per available room—saw increases when compared to 2016 despite declines experienced through the last three months of 2017, according to the report.
