New Jersey casino, sports and online gambling revenue up 2.2% in June

So far this year, those entities have won $2.43 billion, a 15.2% increase over the $2.11 billion reported at the same point last year, the report said.

June’s figures indicate a continuation of the recovering trend for Atlantic City’s nine casinos since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Separate from racetracks, the casinos’ total gaming revenue, which includes brick-and-mortar hauls, internet wins and sports wagering revenue, grew more than 9% this June over June 2021, increasing to more than $377.4 million. Thus far in 2022, the city’s total casino gaming revenue has topped $2.2 billion — a nearly 19% increase over last year.

Without sports or online betting, the casinos’ brick-and-mortar revenue grew nearly 7% over last June. That was an encouraging sign, according to Jane Bokunewicz, faculty director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University. “The peak summer season is still ahead of us, and, with the uncertainty of the potential Local 54 strike settled for most casinos, the summer looks promising,” said Bokunewicz, who thought higher gas prices might have kept some visitors home in June.

Five Atlantic City casinos were in danger of losing some of their workforce to a strike this month, but new agreements with the casino union, Local 54, averted that.

Casino Control Commission Chairman James T. Plousis also cited the resort’s in-person showing as an indicator of a strong summer for the resort.

 “With the many new in-person experiences recently added to make Atlantic City a must-see destination, the casino hotels have truly laid out the red carpet for vacationers this summer,” Plousis said. He cited free entertainment on the Boardwalk as well as upcoming beach concerts as providing “more reasons for tourists to visit and stay.”

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa led the brick-and-mortar casinos, earning nearly $54.3 million, followed by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, which made $44.6 million, according to June’s report. The online components of the casinos collectively posted $133.1 million in June, a more than 24% increase from $107.1 million last June. 

“In keeping with current trends, a significant portion of that growth came from internet and sports betting, which have grown in significance in the past few years,” Bokunewicz said. “Since this time last year, internet gaming has grown so much in significance that even a seasonal plateauing of revenues generated from that activity (-2.1% compared to May 2022), did not diminish its impact on the industry’s overall performance for the month.”

Countering the growth in those sectors was June’s sports betting gross revenue. Last month, New Jersey casinos, racetracks and their partners brought in $39.2 million in sports betting revenue, compared with June 2021’s $71.3 million, marking a 44.9% decrease, according to the report. Year-to-date, that sector has fallen more than 16% over last year.

by Eric Conklin