Atlantic City casino returns fall nearly 14% in 3rd quarter

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City’s casinos saw their operating profits decline by nearly 14% in the third quarter of this year, figures released Friday by recent Jersey gambling regulators display.

The state Division of Gaming Enforcement issued statistics showing that the nine casinos had a collective gross operating returns of $236.5 million in the third quarter. That was down 13.8% from the third quarter of 2023.

It was the latest indication of how the casinos continue to battle with economic conditions and a shift in customer preferences after the COVID19 pandemic. More businesses have migrated to online gambling, where the money won from bettors must be shared with outside parties and is not solely for the casinos to keep.

Although all nine casinos were profitable in the third quarter, only two — Caesars and challenging Rock — saw their operating profits boost compared to a year earlier.

“customer demand may have been an issue for Atlantic City’s casino operators in summer 2024,” said Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, which studies the Atlantic City gambling industry.

She noted that the average hotel room rate declined by $17 in the third quarter, indicating that casino operators may have had to lower their rates to attract customers. The absence of large-scale tourism events like the annual air display and large beach concerts this summer also likely contributed to the downturn, she said.

turnover from things other than gambling also underperformed in the third quarter at $511.6 million, down 5% from a year earlier. These revenues are traditionally strongest during the summer months.

James Plousis, chairman of the recent Jersey Casino Control fee, said “pressure from continuing high costs can be seen in lower profits compared to the same period last year.”

Gross operating returns reflects returns before gain, taxes, shortfall in worth and other costs, and is a widely accepted assess of profitability in the Atlantic City gambling industry.

The Borgata had the highest operating returns at $60 million, down nearly 18% from a year earlier; challenging Rock earned $45.4 million, up 2.4%; Ocean earned $36.5 million, down 15.3%; Tropicana earned $30.5 million, down nearly 17%; Caesars earned nearly $23.5 million, up 11.2%; Harrah’s earned $22.6 million, down nearly 25%; Bally’s earned $6.5 million, down nearly 11%; Golden Nugget earned $6.2 million, down nearly 44%; and Resorts earned $4.9 million, down 32.6%.

Among internet-only entities, Caesars Interactive NJ earned $4.8 million, down 7.8%, and Resorts Digital, the former online arm of Resorts casino, earned $1.5 million, down 4.8%.

For the first nine months of this year, the casinos have posted a collective gross operating returns of $547 million, down 9.2% from the same period last year.

The Ocean Casino Resort had the highest average nightly hotel room rate in the third quarter at $335.63; Golden Nugget had the lowest at $124.70. The average among the nine casinos was $201.08.

challenging Rock had the highest average occupancy rate at 95.1%, while Golden Nugget had the lowest at 66.4%.

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