While the addition of two new casinos to the Atlantic City market increased overall casino revenue in the resort, five of the city’s casinos saw profit decline with overall profits down about 15 percent.
According to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, profits for city casinos was $582 million in 2018. Only two city casinos, the Tropicana Atlantic City and Golden Nugget Atlantic City, increased their operating profits last year.
In June, two new casinos—the Hard Rock Atlantic City and the Ocean Casino Resort—opened on the city’s Boardwalk at casino sites that had previously closed. Many analysts felt the openings could lead to an oversaturation of the market which had been effectively downsized with the closing of five casinos since 2014.
James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, acknowledged that “profit margins were tighter,” in a press release.
“But the resort added thousands of jobs and many exciting new amenities, which position us well for continued growth,” he added.
According to an analysis by the Associated Press, the Golden Nugget had the biggest increase in operating profit for the year, up 12.5 percent to $45 million. Tropicana was up 1.4 percent to $93.4 million.
The Borgata reported the biggest decline in profits, down 18.8 percent to $206 million. Caesars was down 15.4 percent to $79.6 million; Harrah’s was down 6.5 percent to $109.3 million; Bally’s was down 5.7 percent to $40.1 million, and Resorts was down 2.7 percent to $22.5 million.
The two new casinos each reported a gross operating loss for the year in 2018. Ocean Resort lost $17.8 million, while Hard Rock lost $9.1 million.
For the fourth quarter of last year, Atlantic City’s casinos saw a collective decline in gross operating profit of 41.1 percent to $75.1 million.
