Atlantic City Casino Revenue Down Nine Percent in June Compared with 2019

Atlantic City casino brick-and-mortar gross gaming revenue (GGR) totaled $214.5 million in June 2021. That s a loss of nine percent, or $21.5 million, compared with June 2019. 

A crowded Atlantic City Boardwalk is seen in June of 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gamblers are returning, as the coronavirus crisis subsides, but Atlantic City casino land-based revenue remains substantially lower compared with 2019. (Image: Press of Atlantic City)

The headlines are reading as if the gaming market in New Jersey s casino town is better than ever. The Associated Press title reads, Atlantic City Casino Win $345 million in June, New Monthly Record.

That record is largely due to iGaming and sports betting two gaming verticals that are far less profitable than land-based operations. 

But, the AP headline is nonetheless correct. Total GGR from land-based gaming, iGaming slots, table games, and poker rake, and sports betting online and at casinos and horse racetracks, totaled $345 million in June. It s the all-time highest GGR number for any June in the history of New Jersey s gaming industry, which dates back to 1978. 

Breaking Down Numbers

Atlantic City s nine casinos won $154.1 million from slots and $60.4 million on their table games last month. In 2019, those same nine brick-and-mortar venues reported $168.3 million in slot GGR, and $67.7 million from tables.

The surge in June 2021 gaming revenue is a result of ongoing . Internet casinos won more than $107 million from gamblers last month. In 2019 just $38 million. 

Sports betting has also drastically expanded over the past two years. Sportsbook GGR last month was nearly $71.3 million. In 2019 just $9.7 million. 

Total June 2019 GGR from all verticals was $283.7 million. While more than $61 million was won by gaming operators in June 2021, that doesn t necessarily mean things are alive and well in Atlantic City. 

The physical casinos share their iGaming and sports betting revenues with their third-party operators. It s a fact that Hard Rock Atlantic City President Joe Lupo says isn t . 

Atlantic City truly hasn t seen big increases in land-based revenue for quite some time. It s all about online and sports betting, Lupo told WOND radio in January. 

We need more transparency in how the third-party online companies are doing, the Hard Rock exec added. We need help with these [Atlantic City] properties. We need to see the city revitalized, and that s not going to happen when the media is reporting increases when they add in online revenue, and that revenue is going to third-party companies that don t have any stake in the [Atlantic City] game.

Others See Differently

Lupo might have a point, but others say $60 million in additional revenue is more than enough to make up for some of the land-based losses. And it s worth pointing out that profits for Atlantic City casinos totaled $95.1 million in the first quarter of 2021. Eight of the nine casinos turned a profit, Bally s being the exception. 

Atlantic City s total gaming revenue grew 24 percent compared to pre-pandemic June 2019, New Jersey Casino Control Commission James Plousis said in a statement to Casino.org. For three consecutive months, its growth has exceeded 20 percent compared with the strong results of 2019.

I ve seen first-hand that visitation to Atlantic City is on the rise, tourists are happy to be coming back, and the summer is off to a positive start, Plousis concluded. 

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