On the surface, New Jersey’s gaming revenue report for July was filled with good news as the state’s sports books operating in the month brought in $40.6 million in bets and Atlantic City casinos saw a 12.8 percent increase in revenue compared to July 2017.
But, the numbers also show that the opening of the Hard Rock Atlantic City and Ocean Resort casinos in late June has impacted Atlantic City’s seven other casinos, with six of them reporting monthly declines in revenue.
On the other hand, online gaming revenue for all city casinos surged to $25.8 million, up nearly 26 percent over July 2017.
The numbers show that the state’s gambling industry is in a period of dynamic change, and that trend will likely continue as two more Atlantic City casinos—Resorts and Golden Nugget—opened live sports books at their properties last week.
For July, sports betting took in $40.6 million in wagers for the month. The figures represent the revenue from the two New Jersey racetracks which have opened sports books and three Atlantic City casino sports books that operated during the month. There are now six sports books operating at Atlantic City casinos along with the two racetrack sports books as well as one online sports book.
The clear winner for sports books was the FanDuel sports book at the Meadowlands Racetrack, which opened July 14.
According to figures released by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, the Meadowlands took in $1.35 million at its sports book in July. Monmouth Park Racetrack, which started taking bets June 14, took in $856,280 in July, and has won $3.1 million since mid-June, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.
The Borgata took in $562,830 in sports betting in July, and Ocean Resort handled just over $1 million. Bally’s did just under $18,000 in the two days it took sports bets in July.
Sports betting generated $325,646 in state taxes in July and the Borgata, Ocean Resort and Bally’s, and the two tracks saw gross sports betting revenue of $3.8 million on those bets.
The Meadowlands sports book is expected to dominate the market due to its proximity to New York City and since it is where both the NFL’s New York Giants and Jets play their home games.
“It’s not a surprise, but it looks like we’re going to dominate the market,” Jeff Gural, owner of the Meadowlands racetrack told the AP. “The real test will come when companies get their sports book online, because that’s where most of the customers are expected to come from.”
Only one online sports book has launched in the state. DraftKings online sports book, which is partnered with Resorts, launched earlier this month.
Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill US, which runs the sports books at Monmouth Park and the Ocean Resort Casino, told the AP he is “thrilled with the early numbers at both Monmouth and Ocean. They are clearly exceeding our expectations of where we thought we would be at this early stage. There’s no doubt the New Jersey sports betting market has a lot of potential.”
It should be noted that July is a slow time for sports betting with just Major League Baseball and some soccer in play. Since betting began in New Jersey on June 14, more than $57 million in bets has been taken in, according to the AP.
However, a rush continues to have sports books up and running in time for the start of the NFL season in September. Harrah’s Atlantic City—owned by Caesars entertainment which also owns Bally’s—opened its sports book in early August.
Now, both Resorts and Golden Nugget have opened live sports books as well.
The Resorts sportsbook features a 12-foot video wall, 15 television screens, six betting windows and four self-serve kiosks. The Golden Nugget’s sports book occupies the space of the casino’s former poker room—which has been moved to a new location.
Meanwhile, the state also released revenue numbers for Atlantic City casinos in July, which saw the Hard Rock Atlantic City debut with the third highest revenue among the city’s nine casinos and Ocean Resort bring up the rear at ninth.
The Hard Rock brought in $32.7 million. It trailed only Tropicana, at $37 million, and the Borgata, which won $76.6 million in July.
Including all gambling revenue, the nine casinos took in $302 million in July, up 12.8 percent from a year ago.
However, six of the seven casinos that were operating in July 2017 saw revenue declines as the Hard Rock and Ocean Resort clearly cannibalized some of the market. Only the Golden Nugget showed a year-over-year increase in July, with $29.4 million, an increase of 8.8 percent over July 2017, according to the AP’s analysis.
According to the AP, Harrah’s was down 14.1 percent to $31.4 million and Resorts was down 12.7 percent to $17.8 million. Caesars was down 10.3 percent to $29.3 million; Bally’s was down 9.9 percent to $20.5 million; Tropicana was down 9.8 percent, and Borgata was down 4.4 percent.
Ocean Resort, the former Revel casino won $17 million in its first full month, ranking it last among the city’s nine casinos.
Ocean Resort owner Bruce Deifik, however, noted that July was the first time in the property’s history—the casino was formerly the Revel—that is generated a positive cash flow. The property had sat vacant for two years before finally re-opening in late June.
“To be ninth out of nine in this position, I’m tickled pink,” Deifik told the wire service. “This was a property that for two years had a cloud over its head, people thought it was cursed, and no one thought I’d ever get it open.”
The opening of the two casinos also pushed Atlantic City’s casino employee count over 30,000 for the first time since 2014. Atlantic City’s nine casino hotels employed 30,217 people in July, according to statistics released by the state. The figure includes full- and part-time employees.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City and Ocean Resort Casino, both of which opened June 27, combined for 8,184 jobs in July, or 27 percent of the industry’s total. Hard Rock’s 4,393 jobs and Ocean Resort’s 3,791 make the properties the industry’s second- and third-largest employers, the state’s report said.
Finally, online gambling was up nearly 26 percent from a year ago to $25.8 million. That represents a new monthly revenue record for the state. More surprising, it comes in a summer month, which like sports betting is considered a slow time for online betting.
The strength of the state’s online market remains slots and casino games, which was up about 30 percent to $24 million. Online poker fell 8 percent to $1.85 million. For the year, online revenue is up 16.5 percent to $165.4 million.
Golden Nugget again led the market with $9.3 million from online play. The Borgata earned $4.9 million, Resorts Digital Gaming brought in $3.94 million and Caesars Interactive Entertainment was fourth with just under $3.8 million. The Tropicana’s casino-only sites placed fifth with $3.35 million.
Both the Hard Rock ($330,000) and Ocean Resort ($250,000) also began online play in July.
