Atlantic City casinos have a trend when it comes to monthly revenue in the fall, and October fell right in line.
The city’s nine properties reported $220.6 million in land-based revenue, marking the third straight month in which they made less than the previous month. The latest report from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show casino win from slots and table games dropped $32 million (-12.4%) from September and nearly $17 million (-7.1%) year-over-year.
These numbers represent roughly half the state’s $445.7 million in total gaming revenue for the month ($396.8 million of which was reported by AC casinos), as iGaming set a new monthly record with $147.2 million in GGR and sportsbooks took in the remaining $77.9 million. Atlantic City license holders and their online partners accounted for a little more than $29 million of that total. Sportsbook handle was $1.06 billion, exceeding 10 figures for the seventh time in the last 14 months.
Year-to-date numbers are up 10.3%, too, totaling $2.36 billion versus $2.14 billion last year.
Annual revenue should surpass $2.75 billion for AC casinos
Though amidst a slide, AC casinos’ October numbers land closer to the middle of the pack for the year. The warmer summer months predictably bring more business, but they also set the table for comparatively “down” conditions in the following months.
Atlantic City casino revenue by month:
- October: $220.6 million
- September: $251.7 million
- August: $274 million
- July: $299 million
- June: $229.1 million
- May: $233 million
- April: $235.3 million
- March: $216.6 million
- February: $212.4 million
- January: $183.6 million
Given recent history, November and December’s GGR will likely fall closer to $200 million, which would make October the seventh-most profitable month. Last year, GGR for the two months was $206.9 million and $211.8 million, respectively.
More importantly, these numbers project over $2.75 billion in GGR for the year. While that could challenge a 10% increase over 2021 , it’s still not back to pre-pandemic totals.
Yearly revenue since 2016:
- 2021: $2.5 billion
- 2019: $3.3 billion
- 2018: $2.8 billion
- 2017: $2.66 billion
- 2016: $2.6 billion*
*Includes former Trump Taj Mahal (closed Oct. 2016).
Atlantic City October revenue by casino
The following table provides a breakdown of Atlantic City casino revenue by property, including table games, slots and poker.
| Casino | Table Games | Poker | Slot Machines | Total Gaming Win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bally's | $2,326,016 | $ - | $8,502,223 | $10,828,239 |
| Borgata | $14,613,853 | $1,185,319 | $46,654,340 | $62,453,512 |
| Caesars | $4,644,291 | $ - | $12,911,316 | $17,555,607 |
| Golden Nugget | $2,396,217 | $ - | $9,632,470 | $12,028,687 |
| Hard Rock | $12,545,614 | $ - | $26,412,712 | $38,958,326 |
| Harrah's | $3,766,227 | $272,782 | $16,163,935 | $20,202,944 |
| Ocean Casino | $7,669,764 | $ - | $20,634,604 | $28,304,368 |
| Resorts | $2,447,238 | $- | $10,459,106 | $12,906,344 |
| Tropicana | $2,348,731 | $158,703 | $14,877,933 | $17,385,367 |
| Total | $52,757,951 | $1,616,804 | $166,248,639 | $220,623,394 |
Borgata sets the pace once more
Unsurprisingly, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa led all casinos, earning over $62 million. This was a $117K (0.1%) increase from September and up $740K (1.2%) YoY for the MGM property, fueled primarily by a slot GGR of $46.6 million. Borgata was also the only casino with increased month-over-month GGR.
Hard Rock Hotel Casino Atlantic City was a distant second. Its $12.5 million in table games GGR was competitive to Borgata’s $14.6 million, but its $26.4 million in slot revenue paled in comparison.
Ocean Casino Resort and Harrah’s Resort were the only other two over $20 million in GGR, as Ocean dropped 7.5% from September’s $30.6 million number. Harrah’s revenue plunged nearly 13%, staying just $200K above $20 million.
Compared to last October, Ocean is down 9.4% (from $30.1 million), and Harrah’s is down 17.1% (from $24.4 million).
All five remaining casinos also took greater than 10% YoY hits:
- Bally’s: down 13.4% (from $12.5 million)
- Caesars: down 17.3% (from $21.2 million)
- Golden Nugget: down 15.8% (from $14.3 million)
- Resorts: down 11.6% (from $14.6 million)
- Tropicana: down 18.3% (from $21.3 million)
Will Atlantic City casinos experience more growth in 2023?
AC casinos picked up momentum throughout 2022, building on 2021’s resumption of casino gambling after the 2020 COVID pandemic shut down operations for most of the year.
Before that, the city came out of a decade-long slide in 2016. Revenue continued to tick upward for four years after that, surpassing $3 billion in 2019 before 2020’s setback.
So, how long will it be until casinos once again meet (or exceed) 2019’s total $3.3 billion in casino revenue?
Caesars, which owns one-third of the city’s casinos, is all in on AC’s future, even amidst seemingly indefinite inflationary economic conditions.
Thomas Reeg, Caesars CEO, said earlier this year that he sees much brighter days on the horizon than what the industry went through in the recent past.
He added, “… I think the next five years are going to be the greatest investment performance that this sector has ever seen before.”
