ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (AP) — Atlantic City’s casinos and two internet-only gambling companies saw their combined revenues decline 1.3% in the second quarter of 2024 compared with the same period last year, state gaming regulators said Thursday.
Figures released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show that the nine casinos and two online companies generated a combined gross operating profit of $178.4 million in the second quarter.
Gross operating profit reflects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and other expenses and is a widely accepted measure of the profitability of the Atlantic City gaming industry.
All nine casinos were profitable, although two-thirds of them were less profitable in the second quarter of this year than the year before.
“Operators around the world continue to feel the pressure from the increased cost of the goods and services they purchase,” said James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, which studies the Atlantic City gambling industry, said the results were “less encouraging than Atlantic City operators may have hoped.”
It noted that net sales increased by 1.3%, but this had not yet led to increased profitability.
The Borgata reported the highest operating profit of the quarter at $54.3 million, up 15.5% year over year. Hard Rock generated $35.4 million, up 16.3%; Tropicana generated $23 million, down 7.7%; Ocean generated nearly $16 million, down 33.2%; Harrah’s generated $15.7 million, down 13%; Caesars generated $14.6 million, down 4.5%; Golden Nugget generated $6.4 million, down nearly 17%; Bally’s generated $2.7 million, up over 49%; and Resorts generated $1.6 million, down nearly 54%.
Among pure-play Internet companies, Caesars Interactive Entertainment NJ generated $6.6 million (a decrease of 3.1%) and Resorts Digital generated $1.9 million (an increase of 66.3%).
In the first half of this year, the casinos and the two online companies together generated $333.7 million, almost 5% less than the same period in 2023.
Hard Rock had the highest hotel occupancy in the second quarter at nearly 92%; Golden Nugget had the lowest at just over 52%.
The Ocean Casino had the highest average room rate per night at $268.47 and the lowest at $108.14.
