February will be remembered as the last month before a viral attack swept over the U.S., and Atlantic City casinos made the best of it. Leap year and an extra Saturday helped create a favorable calendar. The extra weekend day plus Super Bowl wagering contributed to a 19 percent increase in gaming revenues compared to last February, for the city’s 21st consecutive monthly gaming revenue increase.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released stats on March 12 indicating the state’s nine casinos and two racetracks reported GGR of $287.3 million, including sports betting.
Bettors wagered $494.8 million, which included those in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, as well as during the game. It was the fourth-largest monthly total in New Jersey since legal sports betting began in June 2018.
“Revenue from slots, table games, internet wagering, and sports wagering all grew,” said James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
Seven of AC’s nine casinos reported increases in revenue compared to 2019. Ocean Casino Resort, the former Revel, increased more than 42 percent to $21.3 million.
“February was an incredibly strong month for the property,” said Terry Glebocki, Ocean’s CEO, who also cited mild weather as a contributing factor. “We continue to see strength in our slot business, which increased 88 percent for the month.”
The Meadowlands racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey, continued its dominance in sports betting, taking in nearly $11 million in revenue. Monmouth Park in Oceanport brought in $1.2 million. Collectively, sports betting took in just over $17 million. Internet gambling revenue was almost $52 million, up 63.7 percent from a year ago.
Rummy Pandit, executive director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton University, said last month’s results were the highest for the month of February since 2011, when 11 casinos operated.
“The especially mild weather, and efforts by city businesses to bring more shoulder season entertainment to the resort, has led to increases in visitation.”
That was then. Only weeks later, in mid-March, the Covid-19 threat forced the state’s casinos and racetracks to shut down indefinitely.
