Atlantic City economy improved in 2018

In 2018, Atlantic City saw a 4 percent uptick in vehicle traffic, a 3.6 percent increase in employment, an 8 percent increase in annual gaming revenue and more than $243 million in taxes and fees collected by the state.

“I would look at these numbers from 2018 as a positive for us as a destination,” said Rummy Pandit, executive director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton University. “Overall, the trends look positive to me.”

The addition of two casino properties — Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City and Ocean Resort Casino — in June had a major impact on all of those numbers, according to experts. But the city’s economic growth extended beyond casinos, Pandit said. “There’s non-gaming growth taking place, which then leads to other economic growth in the (region),” he said, citing development in areas such as Tennessee Avenue and the Boardwalk.

However, the absence of rail service for a quarter of the year, seasonal and temporary jobs at the new casino properties, the continued growth of online gambling and additional taxes due to sports betting could each artificially distort some of the positive numbers for Atlantic City in 2018.

 New Jersey imposed an 8.5 percent tax on sports wagers placed inside an Atlantic City casino and a 13 percent tax on online or mobile betting.  An additional 1.25 percent tax was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy, with those proceeds going directly to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority for marketing. Meanwhile, online casino gaming is taxed at 15 percent.

“Two entities are clearly benefiting — the state, through its new taxation on new revenues, and the casinos,” said Marino. “The third entity, Atlantic City, I think the jury is still out whether these visitor numbers can be sustained.” But even online gaming and sports betting are not increasing employment in Atlantic City in proportion to the revenue being generated.

According to a 2017 annual report from the Casino Control Commission, online gaming only accounted for 176 jobs, or 0.08 percent of all casino employees. Sports betting offers more employment opportunities, such as cashiers or food and beverage servers, Marino said.

“Most jobs in sports wagering are at the corporate or international headquarters of the (casino) partners. None of those jobs have to be based in Atlantic City,” he said. “All of these new revenues that are coming in may lead to false conclusions that they are creating new jobs in Atlantic City. To the extent they are, they are mostly at lower levels.”