Summer not only is peak season for Atlantic City casinos, it also is a time for marketing executives to show off their most alluring promotions to try to maximize revenue share. But for all that effort made, Friday’s release by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement of the revenue figures for August looked remarkably similar to those in June and July. None of the contenders were able to gain on the city’s leader.
The 19-year-old Borgata in the Marina District won all three summer months, expanding its lead over monthly runner-up Hard Rock — which opened in 2018 — as the summer went on. A revenue edge of of $54.3 million to $44.6 million for Borgata in June expanded to $76.7 million to $52.9 million for July, and then $72 million to $45.8 million in August.
And each summer month, Ocean Casino — the city’s other 4-year-old property — settled for third place. Ocean’s combined three-month take of $106.7 million was barely half of Borgata’s $203 million bounty.
AC’s second and third tiers
Caesars Entertainment owns the three casinos in Atlantic City that occupy the middle of the pecking order. Tropicana was fourth in revenue in each of the three summer months, racking up a total of $75.4 million. That edged out Harrah’s ($71.5 million) and Caesars ($66.1 million).
Seventh-place Resorts — Atlantic City’s first casino when it opened in 1978 — is noteworthy for being the only casino in the city to achieve higher revenue in August ($18.5 million) than in July ($18.1 million).
That put Resorts at $50.3 million for the three-month stretch, ahead of rival Bally’s ($46 million) and Golden Nugget ($40.4 million). Bally’s, which spent $100 million in upgrades in the past year, now consistently outpaces Golden Nugget for the no. 8 spot.
Sports betting numbers down
The amount of money wagered on sports betting in August was $546.8 million — well behind August 2021, when $664.7 million was bet in the state.
But the sportsbooks aren’t complaining, as the $65.3 million in hold — or money won — outpaced the $52 million kept the previous August. A shade over half of that revenue last month was retained by the Meadowlands Racetrack and its sportsbook partners FanDuel, PointsBet, and SuperBook.
The sports betting revenue increase from the previous August was not spread evenly by many means.
Hard Rock’s collection of skins jumped from about $700,000 in August 2021 to $2.3 million last month, while Freehold Raceway’s group also tripled, from $900,000 to $2.7 million. Borgata also enjoyed a big gain, from $4.7 million to $7 million.
But Resorts, which features DraftKings as a partner, experienced a slight decline from $13 million to $12.8 million, while Monmouth Park’s sports betting haul fell from $2.2 million to $1.9 million.
Photo: Shutterstock
