For some time now, Atlantic City has been in a recovery period. After seeing four casinos close in 2014 and one in 2016, the area seemed to be gaining ground, with the help of online casino and poker gaming. 2017 was a good year, but after the latest figures were released by the state gaming regulators, it seems that 2018 has not started off with a bang.
From January to March of this year, the seven operating casinos of the region brought in $594.9 million in earnings. This is 6% less than the $631.9 million earned during the same time frame in 2017. If you look at just the land-based earnings and take away the online gaming revenues, the amount drops to $525.3 million, which is just over 8% less than last year.
For online gaming, the state is showing no signs of slowing down. Just over $69 million was earned from January to March, which is a 17.3% increase from last year. Online gaming continues to be a strong point for New Jersey, with monthly totals continuing to come in at the $20 million and up range.
In the coming weeks, we should see two new gaming venues open in the area, which will lead to an increase in gaming win over the next few months. The former Trump Taj Mahal will reopen as the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, while the former Revel Casino will be reopened as the Ocean Resort Casino.
Both venues will offer casino gaming, which of course, should increase earning potential for Atlantic City. Both operators are also interested in offering online gaming which will only help to further increase the revenues generated. It will be interesting to see how big of an impact the new venues will have on overall totals and if Atlantic City will get the little boost they need to do better than last year.
