Atlantic City casinos continue to put their COVID woes of 2020 and 2021 behind them, with January marking 12 straight months of more than $200 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR).
The city’s nine casinos generated $211.7 million in GGR, the first January above $200 million since 2013. It was a 15.3% increase from the same period last year. However, it’s a slight decrease (-1.8%) from December’s $215.6 million GGR.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released its January revenue report Thursday afternoon.
Retail casino revenue accounted for 48.4% of the state’s total gaming revenue of $436.9 million across all verticals (+14.5% year-over-year). The remainder came from iGaming ($152.9 million; +10.9% YoY) and sports wagering ($72.3 million; +20.2% YoY). The total gaming revenue includes sports betting revenue from all three NJ racetracks.
Very early signs of solid year ahead for Atlantic City casinos
January is usually the slowest month of the year in AC, meaning casinos are already outpacing the $2.7 billion in yearly revenue from 2022. Jane Bokunewicz of Stockton University’s LIGHT commented:
“While far too early to call, continued strong performance in brick & mortar GGR could be an indicator that operators’ recent, and ongoing, investment in both the Atlantic City gaming and nongaming product is working – allowing the resort to effectively compete in an increasingly crowded tri-state gaming market, and amid inflationary pressures and economic concerns.”
Atlantic City casino January revenue numbers
The following table breaks down Atlantic City casino revenue by the property, including figures for table games, slots and poker.
Casino Table Games Poker Slot Machines Total Gaming Win
Bally's $3,619,716 $ - $7,924,388 $11,544,104
Borgata $14,518,163 $2,089,985 $41,763,985 $58,372,133
Caesars 45,368,200 $ - $11,435,662 $16,803,862
Golden Nugget $1,896,887 $ - $9,095,512 $10,992,399
Hard Rock $10,203,988 $ - $25,706,054 $35,910,042
Harrah's $4,732,478 $273,837 $15,148,458 $20,154,773
Ocean Casino $11,213,974 $ - $19,310,273 $30,524,247
Resorts $2,568,480 $- $8,540,535 $11,109,015
Tropicana $3,213,030 $157,406 $12,894,238 $16,264,674
Total $57,334,916 $2,521,228 $151,819,105 $211,675,249
Borgata Atlantic City retains leading market share
As expected, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa was tops in the state with $58.4 million in GGR, up 20.6% from last January’s $48.4 million. While month-over-month GGR fell from December’s $60.5 million, it remained plenty for Borgata to retain its market share of above 25%.
Hard Rock Hotel Casino Atlantic City ($35.9 million; +3.4% YoY) was second, also down from December’s $37.4 million. Ocean Casino Resort ($30.5 million; +26.4% YoY) topped $30 million in GGR in January after falling $510K short of that mark in December.
Only one other casino topped $20 million, as Harrah’s reported $20.2 million in GGR (+15.9% YoY). However, its GGR declined by $80K from December.
Caesars and Bally’s make jumps
The five remaining casinos also showed year-over-year growth in January, making a perfect nine-of-nine.
Caesars Atlantic City ($16.8 million; +5% YoY) leap-frogged Tropicana AC ($16.3 million; +11.9% YoY) for the number-five spot for the first time since October 2022. Caesars showed 1.2% monthly growth, while Tropicana’s GGR fell by 11% MoM.
Bally’s AC had the highest year-over-year increase in January, with its $11.5 million GGR showing 31.4% YoY and 5.4% MoM growth. As a result, it finished above Resorts and Golden Nugget, who also cracked $11 million for the month.
- Resorts: $11.1 million (+20.1% YoY; -1.1% MoM)
- Golden Nugget: $11 million (+5.6% YoY; +0.9% MoM)
State collects $45 million to start the year
January was also a fantastic start for the state, collecting $45.4 million in taxes from all gaming revenue.
iGaming accounted for just over half, bringing in $22.9 million. It is taxed at 15%, nearly double the 8% state gross revenue tax, which accounted for another $13 million.
Racetracks contributed $6.5 million from sports betting revenue. AC casinos and their sports betting partners made up the final $2.9 million.
