Atlantic City Gambling Revenue Healthy In February

Atlantic City gambling revenue appears to be on the mend nearly two years after COVID-19 upended the casino industry.

Table game and slot revenue reported by AC casinos last month was among the best Februarys in nearly a decade.

New Jersey online gambling produced one of the highest-grossing months ever. And, NJ sportsbooks dodged any concerns that mobile sports betting in New York would dampen Garden State business.

February 2022’s total gambling revenue — the sum of in-person, online and sports betting — was 38% higher than 2021 and nearly 30% higher than 2020.

Overall, last month’s Atlantic City gambling revenue results are encouraging.

“I’ve heard directly from casino executives and there is a palpable optimism across town for a really good spring and summer,” NJ Casino Control Commission Chairman James Plousis said in a statement.

Here are a few key takeaways from the most recent New Jersey gambling revenue report:

The truth about Atlantic City gambling revenue

The city’s nine casinos reported just over $212.4 million in revenue from table games and slots in February, according to data released last week by the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement.

That figure is up more than 43% from the same period in 2021.

Last month was the second-highest-grossing February for land-based gambling revenue since 2012. Only the $218.3 million in February 2020 (a leap year) has been higher in the last decade.

But, only two casinos report higher in-person gambling revenue in February 2022 than 2020 and 2019.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City was up 77% from 2019 and 56% from 2020. Ocean Casino Resort was up 116% from three years ago and 43% from February 2020.

The other seven Atlantic City casinos saw in-person revenue decline by 10.2% since 2019 and 16.3% since 2020.

Casino	Table & Other	Poker	Slot Machines	Total Gaming Win
Bally’s	$3,115,899	$ –	$7,620,862	$10,736,761
Borgata	$12,516,223	$1,310,056	$39,014,326	$52,840,605
Caesars	$5,844,578	$ –	$12,905,121	$18,749,699
Golden Nugget	$2,784,819	$ –	$10,179,540	$12,964,359
Hard Rock	$12,072,772	$ –	$25,324,664	$37,397,436
Harrah’s	$3,993,919	$304,304	$15,484,489	$19,782,712
Ocean Casino	$10,081,264	$ –	$19,613,133	$29,694,397
Resorts	$2,757,268	$-	$10,153,214	$12,910,482
Tropicana	$3,529,709	$169,734	$13,642,971	$17,342,414
Total	$56,696,451	$1,784,094	$153,938,320	$212,418,865

Online gambling showing no signs of leveling off anytime soon

According to state gaming regulators, NJ online gambling generated $129.98 million in February.

It was the state’s third-highest revenue-generating month from online gambling. January 2022 holds the record at $137.85 million, with December 2021’s $133.2 million right behind.

Year-over-year, online gaming revenue increased 38.6% last month. Compared to February 2020 (the last full month before the COVID-19 shut down in March 2020), online gambling revenue was up 150%.

Three online licensees — which are responsible for 13 internet operators, or skins — account for more monthly revenue than two-thirds of the brick-and-mortar properties in Atlantic City.

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa’s collection of online skins reported $37.8 million last month, which was more than eight of AC’s land-based casinos.

Beatin’ the books in Jersey, AC

New Jersey sportsbooks also had a good month in February, at least in terms of the amount of betting action they handled.

For the first time since September 2021 NJ sportsbooks failed to handle at least $1 billion in monthly wagers. However, the books only missed the mark by a small margin.

NJ sports bettors shelled out more than $985.5 million on legal wagers last month. Nearly 91.3%, or $899.6 million, were bets placed with an online or mobile sportsbook.

More than $143.7 million was bet on this year’s Super Bowl.

The total amount gambled with NJ sportsbooks is even more impressive considering January’s launch on mobile sports betting in NY.

But it was the gambling public who had the last laugh in February. The books generated $30.87 million last month, for an estimated hold percentage of just over 3%.

Sportsbooks associated with Atlantic City casinos (which includes some online operators) reported $14.3 million in monthly revenue.