Atlantic City casinos post $427M revenue in August, up 31% versus 2020

Atlantic City casinos and racetrack sports betting outlets are showing resilience and bouncing back, as they took in 31% more in August than they did the same month 2020 amid COVID-19-related closures and financial woes.

The results were released Thursday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming. Total Gaming Revenue for the month was $426.7 million, up from $326.3 million in August 2020. Casino win for the month was $262.4 million, compared to $199.1 million in August last year.

Moreover, Internet gaming win was $113.2 million, up from $87.8 million in the prior period, an increase of 29.0%; while sports wagering gross revenue for August was $52.0 million.

The improvements in all segments mark a contrasting image compared to 2020: due to the pandemic, Atlantic City casinos closed in March and began reopening on July 2020, under operating restrictions. Internet casino gaming and online sports wagering operations continued throughout said period, although most sporting events were canceled.

For the year-to-date period, the industry’s total gaming revenue was $2.99 billion, reflecting an 84.8% increase compared to $1.62 billion in 2020. From this total, $866.1 million correspond to Internet gaming win; $457.3 million to sports wagering gross revenue; and $1.65 billion to casino win.

“Peak summer in the resort produced promising revenue returns for the city’s casinos,” said Jane Bokunewicz, coordinator of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, reports Chron.

“If pandemic mitigation efforts are successful in lowering transmission rates into the fall and winter and live events continue to return to the resort, we can expect a strong (off-peak) season fueled by continuing demand for experiences,” added Bokunewicz.

Taking into account the NFL season launch earlier this month, sports gaming is set to most likely improve in the fall, driving further revenue to operations in the state of New Jersey.

The positive results experienced in August saw all nine casinos in the area posting revenue increases compared to 2020. Borgata saw casino win of $52.0 million, followed by Hard Rock at $52.4 million and Ocean Casino at $45.7 million.

It is worth noting Golden Nugget’s case, which saw win up over 70% to $15.8 million compared to 2020. Tropicana was up nearly 44% to $38 million, and Resorts over 35% to $18.6 million.

Hard Rock saw the largest increase in in-person casino winnings in Atlantic City, almost $13 million. While Joe Lupo, the casino’s president, said the year-on-year increase was to be expected as in 2020 the venue operated under limits on occupancy, he cautioned that the market was down 8.4% from pre-pandemic August 2019.

This fact still shows the COVID impact and the “need to recognize opportunities to work together for growth and improvements to the city,” said Lupo.