Atlantic City Revenue Down Nearly 2%, iGaming Continues Growth

Posted on: May 17, 2023, 03:31h. 

Last updated on: May 17, 2023, 01:42h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Atlantic City’s brick-and-mortar casinos won $231.5 million from gamblers in April 2023. That was a 1.6% year-over-year decline, but still the market’s best month of the year so far.

Atlantic City casino revenue iGaming sports betting
The Atlantic City Boardwalk. The nine casinos in town won less money on their brick-and-mortar floors in April 2023 than they did in April 2022, but state officials remain optimistic about the resort town’s approaching busy season. (Image: New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Authority)

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) on Monday released April’s revenue numbers. While land-based gaming was down from April 2022, iGaming and sportsbooks continued their growth.

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) from online casino slot machines, table games, and poker rake was $158.9 million, a 16% improvement from April 2022. Oddsmakers won $72.3 million of the $833.9 million wagered.

The sports betting income includes revenue from in-person and online, though mobile betting is the heavily preferred wagering channel. Of the $833.9 million bet last month, all but about $35.5 million was wagered online.

When GGR from New Jersey’s regulated gaming verticals is combined, April revenue totaled more than $462.7 million. That’s a 9.5% gain on April 2022.

Year to date, New Jersey GGR from the nine casinos, iGaming, and sports betting totaled nearly $1.8 billion. That’s up more than 12% compared with the same four months in 2022, which was a record year that saw the gaming interests win over $5.2 billion.

Trending Positively Before Busy Season

Though gaming revenue was down in Atlantic City last month, April’s brick-and-mortar win of $231.3 million set a new monthly high for 2023. Casinos won $211.6 million in January, $214.9 million in February, and $228.6 million in March.

James Plousis, chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, the state agency that oversees the DGE, said he remains optimistic about Atlantic City’s immediate future, despite the small retraction in land-based play.

Even though April’s casino win lagged compared to the same period last year, it was still the second strongest April in 11 years,” Plousis said in a statement to Casino.org. “As I regularly visit the casino hotels, I hear a lot of optimism that this will be a great summer in Atlantic City.”

Plousis cited an abundance of new, unique events, including Resorts Casino Hotel’s 45th-anniversary celebration set for later this month. Resorts was the first casino to open in Atlantic City in May of 1978.

Resorts isn’t the only casino in town with a major anniversary this summer. Hard Rock and Ocean Casino, which both opened on June 27, 2018, will commemorate five years of being in business next month. And Borgata, the richest casino of the nine in terms of gaming revenue, will host its 20th anniversary in July.

Sliding Into Summer

Atlantic City this summer will have a new attraction that officials at the nongaming Showboat Hotel hope will bring in new guests, specifically families.

The Showboat is finalizing its Island Waterpark, a year-round water park with a large, retractable glass-pane roof above numerous waterslides, lazy rivers, and pools.

Next door to the Showboat, Ocean is completing 12 unfinished floors over a decade after the 60-story resort opened as Revel in 2012. Ocean is spending $85 million to finish those floors and update and refresh other areas of the property. Ocean is additionally spending $700K to restore the eroded beach in front of the property and is seeking permission to build a helipad for VIPs atop its parking garage.

Ocean plans to award $5 million this summer in giveaways and promotions to celebrate its fifth year in operation.