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US – Atlantic City posts first annual increase in a decade
By Phil - 13 January 2017
Atlantic City’s seven casinos collectively posted their first revenue increase in a decade with only two of the remaining casinos posting a fall during 2016.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement confirmed that GGR reached $2.6bn from in 2016, marking an increase of 1.5 percent from a year earlier and the first time the market has increased since 2006 back in the days before Pennsylvania’s casino market and when Atlantic City had 12 casinos. In comparison, Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board is predicting that its 2016 GGR will hit $3.2bn.
Matthew Levinson, Chairman and CEO of the Casino Control Commission, said: “I look forward to this trend continuing in 2017. These are some strong numbers, especially with all the bad news about Atlantic City’s `demise.’ There’s a lot of good news here. We have some stronger casinos now, and internet gambling continues to increase. The hope is we’re entering a stable environment now. The year 2016 went out with a bang at the casinos, thanks to a 15 percent jump in casino revenue for December. Having New Year’s Eve on a Saturday night, and plain old good luck, provided a big boost for the casinos in December. Every casino licensee reported increased revenue – including two that are internet-only licensees. Even when results from the now-closed Trump Taj Mahal are included, December was still up by 8.6 per cent compared to the year before.”
Internet gambling revenue certainly played its part, increasing in New Jersey over the year by more than 32 per cent to almost $197m.
Borgata led the way online with revenues of $47m, followed by Golden Nugget with $42.2m, Caesars with $38.6m,Tropicana with $36.9m and Resorts with $31.7m.
The increase was also felt on the bricks and mortar gaming floors of Atlantic City with GGR increasing by 2.1 per cent from last year hitting $2.28bn. Of the seven casinos, the two whose revenues shrank were Harrah’s, who was down 4.3 per cent to $358m and Caesars who fell by 2.7 per cent to $302m.
The Borgata was, as usual, Atlantic City’s top earning casino, generating $769m over 2016, almost double that generated by its nearest competitor, Harrah’s. The Golden Nugget generated $251.9m with the Tropicana earning $341.1m with both increasing on 2015s figures by nine per cent.
Tom Polhman, General Manager of the Golden Nugget, said: “[The Atlantic City market] right-sized itself to the point where we’re not over-saturated anymore. I’d like to think things had hit rock bottom and we’ll all get better from here.”
David Schwartz, Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, added that Atlantic City had to continue its focus on diversifying its revenue streams beyond gaming.
“At this point, it should be clear that relying on gaming revenues is not the way ahead. There needs to be a focus on broader tourism and diversification into non-hospitality areas.”
