Operator News
US – Atlantic City casinos more profitable now than in 2019
By Phil - 23 November 2023
Atlantic City’s nine casinos and two internet-only gaming operators generated $281.2m in the third quarter of 2023, marking a 7.5 per cent fall from last year’s third quarter.
The good news was that the East Coast’s casinos were more profitable in the third quarter of 2019, prior to the pandemic, due mainly to strong revenue from its two newest casinos; Hard Rock and Ocean.
Figures released by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement show that Hard Rock posted a gross operating profit of $44.3m in the third quarter, an increase of less than one per cent from a year earlier whilst the Ocean Casino Resort generated a profit of $43m, an increase of more than 10 per cent from a year earlier.
Four casinos experienced the negative effects of a cybersecurity issue affecting their parent companies.
Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, said: “In keeping with the experiences of many resort communities along the New Jersey shore, Atlantic City saw a bit of a cooling off in summer 2023 compared to the pent-up post-pandemic energy seen in 2021 and 2022. That said, it did outperform pre-pandemic 2019 for both net revenue and gross operating profit, suggesting that this could be part of a cycle of stabilisation.”
James Plousis, Chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, highlighted that third-quarter profit was the third-highest in Atlantic City since 2008.
The Borgata, the clear market-leader, generated a profit of $73.5m, down 1.7 per cent from a year ago. Tropicana had a profit of $36.7m, a fall of 11.5 per cent whilst Harrah’s profit was down by 13 per cent to $30m. Caesars’ profit was down 18 per cent at $21.1m. Golden Nugget had an $11m profit, down by nearly four per cent. Bally’s generated a $7.3m profit, down over 32 per cent whilst Resorts was down a massive 43 per cent at a profit of $7.2m.
