Atlantic City Casinos Comes Roaring Back, Wins $359M in March

Atlantic City casinos had their best month since the pandemic last year. But overall, casino profits in 2020 were down 80% from 2019.

Brick-and-mortar gross gaming revenue (GGR) from slot machines and table games was $184.8 million. That’s a 116% year-over-year increase, as the nine casinos in Atlantic City were ordered to shut down.

All combined, New Jersey’s gaming industry generated $359.2 million in revenue in March 2021. That’s a 120 percent increase year over year.

A Positive Trend

Due to better market conditions, March 2021 easily topped March 2020 because the casinos were open for the entire month. But even when comparing last month to March 2019, the $359.2 million hauls is up 18%

Many COVID-19 rules remain in place in Atlantic City. Each casino is limited to operating at 50% of its fire code capacity. More troublesome, smoking indoors on the casino floors remains on hold.

Despite a challenging year, Hard Rock reported a gross operating profit of nearly $11 million in 2020. The Boardwalk casino ended the year strong, with a $12.5 million operating profit in the fourth quarter.

Anti-casino advocates disagree that the temporary smoking ban is affecting Atlantic City’s casinos. According to the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, recent strong revenue reports for casinos show that smoking bans are not deterring gamblers.

Borgata Top Operator

Last month, MGM Resorts’ Atlantic City casino had the highest total GGR. The Borgata won more than $89 million from gamblers, with $46.5 million from its physical casino and $36.1 million online.

Hard Rock came in second with a total of $69.9 million. The casino is New Jersey’s online gaming leader, its Golden Nugget Online Gaming unit reporting iGaming win of $31.1 million.

The Meadowlands and its partner FanDuel continue to dominate sports betting. The in-person and online sportsbook revenue totaled $31.2 million. With $14.1 million, Resorts and partner DraftKings came in second.